Compelled to Play by New Rules
by Hotpoint
Summary: Second Story in the Compelled series: The AI Fang Gang, Scoobies and new Slayers adjust to a new city and new methods - AU Series - COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**Important Note from the Author:**

**This story is a sequel to my earlier Fic _Compelled to Play Again_. You are best advised to read that one first because if you don't you'll be wondering what on Earth (or any other realm) is going on. This is an Alternate Universe/Changed Timeline story with the point of diversion being within Series 4 of Angel/Series 7 of Buffy.**

**_NEWS - Compelled to Play Again has been entered in the ABC Fic Awards - Please take time to visit the site (link on my profile)_**

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**CHAPTER ONE**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – June 2003**

At first he thought he was just being mugged but the duct tape over the mouth and the inhuman strength of his captors soon cleared up that misconception. It was far worse than that, he was in real trouble here and he knew it as they transported him to what he hoped _wasn't_ his final destination.

After some dragging around and a trip in what was clearly the trunk of a car they roughly pulled off the blindfold and even more painfully yanked off the tape as they hauled him into building. The first person he saw was a young girl in her mid teens who was standing there with two even younger girls, identical twins from the look of them, the older of the three looked at him with utter contempt and then spat in his face. 'Traitor' she said in an English accent and walked away the two others following as she led them up the curved staircase, their own faces had been equally filled with hatred he noted as they disappeared from sight.

He considered struggling but he was firmly held by each arm and he knew he didn't have a fraction of the strength needed to overcome either of the young women holding him in place.

'It's been a while Rutherford' a familiar voice observed. 'Not precisely the circumstances I expected to meet you again in however.'

'Hello Rupert' Sirk replied to the man who had walked up to him. 'I couldn't trouble you for a handkerchief could I?' he asked. 'You can tell them to let me go. I know I can't outrun them or fight my way out' he said amused at the very notion.

Giles gave the two slayers holding Sirk a nod and they released him and backed away as he passed the Watcher deserter a handkerchief which Sirk used to mop the spittle from his face. 'That girl seemed to dislike me' he said.

'Academy Watcher' Giles told him. 'She asked to see you when you were bought in.'

'Ah' Sirk replied, 'that makes sense. I had thought they were all dead' he noted.

Giles shook his head. 'Four survivors' he replied. 'The three girls you just met and one young man' he replied.

'Is he going to spit in my face too?' Sirk asked. They had obviously stopped teaching good manners as part of the curriculum. In his day the inevitable seizure by the retrieval team and the summary execution would have been carried out with the utmost dignity and propriety.

The teenager who had been watching from nearby and who immediately dashed across did not however spit in Sirks face, instead he threw a punch that sent the man sprawling to the floor. 'No but I'll piss on your grave' he declared venomously.

'That's enough Stephen' Giles told the young watcher.

Sirk looked up at him from the floor. 'Quentin Travers boy' he said rubbing his jaw recognising him from a social gathering the year before. 'Going to help me up Rupert?' he asked.

Giles smirked. 'No but if you stay down there I'll let Stephen kick you in the ribs a few times' he replied. 'I think he'd enjoy that.'

'He does seem an intemperate young man' Sirk said hauling himself up off the Lobby floor. 'His father was more measured but no less ruthless I'd say.'

Giles turned away from Sirk towards the teenager. 'I've got to ask' he inquired. 'Did doing that make you feel better?'

Stephen rubbed his hand. 'Except for the knuckles, yes a bit' he replied honestly.

The older watcher turned back to Sirk just as he got back up and suddenly punched him right on the nose with a very neat right jab that bloodied Sirk's face. 'You know it really does' Giles said happily as Sirk clutched his broken nose, holding the handkerchief over it to stem the flow.

'Intemperate middle-age Rupert?' someone else asked.

'Wyndham-Pryce' Sirk noted, recognising the man from his Wolfram and Hart file photo, his words slightly muffled by both the handkerchief and the blood in his nostrils. 'Are you going to hit me too?' he asked.

'Well _they_ got to, and it's only fair on that basis, but frankly I was rather planning on shooting you instead' Wesley replied matter-of-factly.

'So is this a public trial before a jury of my peers?' Sirk asked. 'Or should I say a judge, jury and executioner of my peers?' he added sardonically.

'If we could find a full twelve Watchers to form a proper jury we would' Giles replied. 'Unfortunately the numbers are quite depleted these days' he admitted. 'There would be one more if he hadn't sold out his principles, abandoned his duty and gone to work for the enemy' Giles pointed out.

'The Council is gone Rupert' Sirk replied. 'I did what I had to.'

'If you'd just been a coward and hid when the First Evil attacked that might have been forgivable, if craven, but you didn't just run away.' Giles replied evenly. 'As for the Council it isn't just bricks and mortar and it never was, it's an _idea_' he stated. 'It's a state of mind that says that we few who know that the world needs defending have a calling, a duty in fact, to do so. The Council is a _belief_ not a damn _building_' he declared hoping he didn't sound too pompous.

Sirk laughed ironically. 'I'm being held in judgment by two men who were actually sacked from the Council themselves' he pointed out. 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.'

Wesley blinked. It was even worse than that, he thought to himself, according to Illyria in the original timeline he himself had gone to work for Wolfram and Hart albeit for a rather more noble cause than self preservation and a pay check. Did he therefore have a right to sit in judgement he wondered.

As Giles decided on a comeback he was pre-empted by another blow being struck, as one more punch, this time to the midriff, bent Sirk double and left him gasping for air.

Giles made a disapproving noise.

'I didn't have a stone' Stephen told the elder watcher with a shrug causing Wesley to break out laughing which he stifled when Giles glared at him, the two slayers standing nearby fought back their own laughter, they were trying to seem intimidating here. 'If you two have some kind of ethical problem with giving this quisling what he deserves because of your own histories I'll do it' Stephen volunteered.

Sirk straightened up again. 'You're not going to have this bloody child kill me are you Rupert?' he asked wincing with the pain from the blow to his gut.

'I'm eighteen not a child' Stephen responded. 'Old enough to join the Army and get sent to the Middle-East to kill people I've got nothing personally against so I think I'm old enough to kill a turncoat bastard like you.'

'Eighteen?' Giles found himself saying.

'Last week' Stephen replied.

'Um… congratulations' Giles told him. 'Didn't feel like celebrating?'

'Not been the best year' Stephen replied honestly.

'I can see that' Giles concurred. 'But getting back on track if we decide to more formally terminate Mr Sirk's employment with the Council either myself or Wesley will do it.'

'As you wish' Stephen replied folding his arms. 'Offer stands though' he added.

'Setting yourself up as the Leader of the new Council are we Rupert?' Sirk asked. 'Self appointment to Travers Seniors old job?' he asked regaining enough composure to sneer.

'We held a vote with a _very_ limited electorate' Wesley told him. 'When things are back on a more even keel they might change but for now Giles is in charge' he continued, 'and it seems the Captains main desire for a keel would involve hauling you under it before hanging you from the yard-arm.'

'How nautical of you' Sirk replied. 'So are you going to talk me to death or put a firearm to the back of my head?'

'First things first Rutherford' Giles replied. 'There is the little matter of certain documents which you apparently stole from the Council and gave to Wolfram and Hart, presumably as a sweetener to ensure your employment' he said. 'Amongst other works one of these was apparently the Devandiré Sibylline Codex which we very much want returned.'

Sirk blinked. 'It's locked in the Company Vault' he said.

'So we assumed. Don't make us go and get it back ourselves' Giles responded. 'We want you to collect everything that belonged, oh I'm sorry I meant to say _belongs_, to the Council and hand it over.'

'Do that and we'll let you live' Wesley told him. 'By which we mean we'll let you disappear and we won't come looking.'

'Of course if we run into you by accident we'll kill you on sight so it would be better if you stayed away from any employment opportunities with occult leanings' Giles told him.

Sirk looked at them. 'There's no way they'll just let me take them' he pointed out.

'Not really our problem' Giles told him. 'It's the books or your life and don't think for a second that either Wolfram and Hart can protect you, or that if you go to ground _without_ returning the books we won't be able to find you.'

'You'd send the Slayers after me?' Sirk asked. 'Rules changed about them taking human life have they?'

Giles grabbed him by the throat one handed. 'No' he said darkly. '_I'd_ come after you' he vowed putting a bit of the Ripper into his words and intonation. Stephen seemed impressed anyway and raised his eyebrows slightly.

'You're free to go Sirk' Giles told him turning away. 'You've got two days to return the books you stole or there will be a reckoning.'

'He's getting off light' Stephen stated.

Giles couldn't help but agree, but given that he'd stolen Council property himself he didn't think he had enough moral high ground to do much else. On the other hand however… 'I'll give you five minutes then sling him out on the street' he told Stephen.

Sirk looked at the feral grin that appeared on the young watchers face. 'This is going to be sweet' Stephen said cracking his knuckles. Somehow Sirk didn't exactly think so himself.

'So what are we going to do with young Travers?' Wesley asked Giles as the two of them went to make a pot of tea.

'He seems to enjoy the non-academic side of the work' Giles replied. 'Definitely a field man I'd say. Utterly wasted in pure research' he opined.

'Indeed' Wesley agreed holding open the door to let Giles through listening to the thumping sound of a fist being driven into a human torso. 'Nice to have the continuity of a Travers still in the game.'

'Thinking of familial traditions has your father agreed to come back into active service?' Giles asked.

Wesley grimaced. 'Yes' he replied. 'He was already rounding up as many retired watchers as he can still contact before I managed to get hold of him. He was actually planning on taking the old guard to the Hellmouth if you can believe that.'

'Very proactive of him' Giles replied.

Wesley nodded. He may have had issues with his father but he never doubted his loyalty to the cause, only some of his methods as both Watcher and Parent.

'Did you tell him we'll be rebuilding the Great Russell Street Offices exactly as they were before?' Giles asked.

'He seemed very pleased at the idea' Wesley replied. 'His exact words were "that'll show the damn demons that the Council only loses battles never the war" I believe.'

'If we put him in charge of the project do you think he would agree?' Giles asked.

'Oh certainly' Wesley replied quickly. 'It would also keep him out of your hair which I assume was your reasoning?'

'You might think that Wesley. I couldn't possibly comment' Giles replied with a half smile. 'So what's up with Illyria?' he asked causing a frown to appear on Wesley's face.

**Wolfram and Hart Building – Los Angeles – June 2003**

'So the situation with Corbin Fries is resolved?' Lilah asked looking up from her papers.

'Yes Ma'am' the head of the legal division replied. 'Surprised the other team gave us a heads up on that.'

Lilah tapped her pen on the conference table. 'They didn't want to risk the Black Tomorrow virus getting out, and if that meant giving us the information we needed to keep our client out of prison they clearly consider that the lesser of two evils' she replied. 'We may call them the white hats but they're not stupid enough to think there's no such thing as shades of grey' she continued. 'The boy will_ not_ be harmed' she told the meeting, 'and no I'm _not_ going soft. If we took the easy solution to the problem and flash-fried Fries junior' she said with a half smile, 'then the "other team" made it perfectly clear they'd boil _us_ in oil' she explained. 'Slowly' she added.

'I miss the days when we would have assumed that was bluster' a new arrival observed from the doorway. 'I'm sorry I'm late' she apologised. 'Someone must have forgotten to invite me' she said.

Lilah looked thoughtful for a second. 'No I didn't _forget_ to invite you Eve but I did forget to tell security to wait at the door and keep you out of the room' she told her. 'I won't make the same mistake again.'

'Now now Ms. Morgan' Eve responded taking one of the unused chairs. 'You may have been appointed the CEO of the Los Angeles branch because of your unique knowledge of the major players, but the nature of some of your, how can I put this delicately, "relationship" with certain of those individuals did make the Senior Partners concerned enough to assign a liaison to you, someone to guide you in your efforts to toe the company line as it were.'

Lilah chuckled. 'And their choice was so amusing' she responded. 'I think I overheard one of the security people saying you're being called "Mini-Me" by the junior staff members' she said provoking laughter from the department heads. 'Well I'm the full grown Dr Evil here munchkin and _I_ get to choose who comes to my meetings' she told her. 'I'll let you stay this time but next time I'll have you dragged out by the hair' she declared. 'Now onto our next order of business' she said turning a page on her file the other department heads doing likewise. 'How are we progressing with our relocation of important non-human clients from the city?' she asked looking around. Damn Slayers she thought, they were carving their way through LA's demon population at an alarming rate and it was starting to hit the margins badly.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – June 2003**

Wesley didn't use to hit like this Angel thought, somehow managing to stay upright from the blow. Before Wesley could follow up Gunn and Xander managed to tackle him before he did something to really provoke the vampire into violence.

'God damn it Wes, chill out before someone knocks you out' Gunn told Wesley, holding the Englishman back while Xander stepped between him and Angel. Wesley continued to struggle but despite all the extra muscle he'd put on over the last couple of years Gunn was still a lot stronger and pinned his arms behind his back without a huge amount of effort.

'What the hell is this shit?' Faith asked loudly walking into the lobby from outside where she'd been smoking a cigarette.

'Wesley slugged Angel' Xander explained keeping an eye on the former watcher who looked practically homicidal.

'I don't think he liked what I had to say about his girlfriend' Angel said. 'The truth hurts.'

'You don't know a bloody thing' Wesley practically spat.

'I know she's been a whiney obnoxious bitch' Angel replied rubbing his jaw. 'You might be able to put up with her crap but the rest of us don't have to' he said then straightened himself up. 'And since you aren't man enough to tell her the truth I will' Angel declared. 'She needs to grow up and start acting like a team player or I'll throw her out on her ass.'

'Leave her alone' Wesley said angrily. 'If you want us to go we'll go' he said.

'No don't leave' Fred said quickly. She'd been talking to Cordelia in the office when the yelling began and had dashed out just in time to watch Wesley punch Angel. The two of them were watching from a distance.

Buffy put her head over the banister above. 'I could hear you jerks yelling over the TV' she called down to them. 'Is this a testosterone thing?' she asked. 'Because if you're competing for status I'll come down and beat you both to a pulp.'

'All I did was tell Wesley that if he didn't sort out Illyria then I would' Angel replied. 'He told me to back off, I told him to grow a backbone and have it out with her and then he punched me.'

Buffy looked to Xander. 'Is that about it?' she asked.

Xander nodded. 'Pretty accurate version of events' he affirmed.

'Right' Buffy began. 'Wesley you're out of line and I'm with Angel on this one' she said. 'Illyria has been a pain in the ass since we left Sunnydale, I know she wanted to go get herself some Lawyer trophies but that's not on the cards and we don't need an ancient demon God acted like a spoiled brat because we wouldn't go out to play with her.'

'B's got a point Wes' Faith said. 'I mean, I like Blue but she's cranky and short-tempered and she wasn't that sociable to start with' she said. 'I know she's like a gazillion years old but the chick really needs to grow up' she stated.

Wesley had calmed down a bit and Gunn let go. 'You couldn't be more wrong' he said. 'I'll pack my things tonight and we'll leave in the morning' he said. 'Just leave her be.'

Buffy had made her way down the stairs and approached Wesley wearing a conciliatory expression. 'Nobody wants you to leave, or Illyria for that matter we owe her a lot, but she just needs to be told a few things for her good as well as ours.'

'Bullshit' Wesley replied. 'None of you know anything.'

Cordelia sighed and turned to Fred and they exchanged glances. 'Just tell them Wesley or I will' Fred declared.

'It's none of their fucking business' Wesley replied tersely.

'Yes it is because you're our business and so is Illyria' Fred replied softly and turned to address Buffy. 'Illyria isn't acting like she is because she's being petulant about the decision made regarding how to deal with Wolfram and Hart, it's because of what happened back when the town collapsed' she said.

'So she's cranky because we left her behind' Buffy responded. 'Okay I can see myself being pretty pissed off too in her shoes, but she's fine. She should shake it off and get on with her life.'

Fred shook her head. 'That isn't it at all' she said. 'Illyria was left buried under the town she had to claw her way out of that.'

'Blue's kinda tough' Faith interjected. 'Don't see that fazing her too much.'

Fred looked around. 'Illyria is tougher and meaner than any one of you but she's also _claustrophobic_' she told them flatly. 'Didn't know that I'm thinking?' she asked looking from Angel to Buffy. 'Remember all those comments people were making thinking she was dead, looking into the sinkhole, about if she was in heaven? Well she wasn't' Fred said coldly. 'Illyria was in _hell_' she told them. 'Right inside here' she said tapping the side of her head. 'That's the worst hell of all you know' she told them. 'The one the handsome man can't rescue you from even if he tries' she said smiling at Wesley, 'in the end you have to rescue yourself.'

Wesley looked to the floor. 'Illyria could just about handle being indoors before, but now she can't cope with it at all' he said. 'Why do you think we spend so much time outside?' he asked. 'Anything more than a few minutes indoors and the walls start to close in on her.'

'Claustrophobic?' Buffy said aghast.

Wesley rounded on her. 'I believe you once found yourself buried alive and had to dig your way out of your own grave' he said to her. 'Imagine if you were terrified of small enclosed places and had to do that' he continued. 'How do you think it would effect you?' he asked her rhetorically before turning to Angel. 'It's even worse for her' he said. 'Illyria doesn't handle human emotions very well at the best of times and fear is a pretty strong emotion don't you think? I've been trying to get her to let go of another one too' he said, 'shame.'

'Shame?' Xander questioned.

'She's ashamed of her weakness' Buffy said quietly.

'Give the Slayer a cigar' Wesley declared sarcastically. 'To us fear is just a healthy reaction that keeps us focused and out of danger, to her it's a betrayal of who she is and she _hates_ it, hates herself for feeling it' he said. 'She'll be okay in time, she'll adjust like she adjusted to the idea that love isn't a weakness either, it's just a part of you, but one thing she doesn't bloody well need right now is some arsehole giving her a hard time' he said to Angel pointedly.

'Hell' Angel said. 'We left her in hell' he realised.

'Cigars all round' Wesley responded wryly. 'That's the other problem' he said. 'Intellectually she knows everyone thought she was dead, but in her gut she feels that the whole stinking lot of us abandoned her in the worst place she could imagine' he continued. 'Even me' he added with a touch of pathos.

'But you were unconscious' Buffy replied. 'Kennedy knocked you out because you were trying to save her by overdosing on the magicks. Illyria even made a joke about how that made her and Kennedy even because she'd punched out Willow for the same thing.'

Wesley closed his eyes. 'Big difference between her _knowing_ that and _feeling_ it' he replied folding his arms, 'but at least the fact that she knows I tried to help her means she was willing to let me reach out to her afterwards. I hear the stupid whispers, about how we're up on the roof screwing every night, well we're _not_, I haven't touched her at least not like that, I just hold her hand and talk to her until I fall asleep' he told them. 'And if there's one saving grace it's that Illyria doesn't sleep because at least she doesn't have to put up with the nightmares.'

'Why the fuck didn't you tell us this shit earlier?' Faith asked.

Cordelia snorted. 'Oh yeah because Illyria's the type that would _love_ everyone knowing this stuff' she said. 'We were hoping the rest of you jerks would cut her some slack, because she like, saved your sorry asses, but I guess we were optimistic.'

'And _now_ I know why you've been the Illyria Fan Club for the last couple of weeks' Xander said. 'You and Fred knew about her problem.'

'No duh Sherlock' Cordelia replied scornfully.

'So what do we do?' Buffy asked.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. 'Cut her some slack like I said maybe?' she replied.

Fred looked off into space, her eyes focused elsewhere. 'My perspective is probably pretty unique' she said. 'Illyria doesn't just have my memories, I can see more of me in her than just that' she told them. 'When I got back from Pylea I was _still_ trapped there really and I hid from it in the opposite way that Illyria is hiding, by staying _inside_, her hell was my heaven if you like' she explained, 'but I got over it and what helped me was time and knowing that people cared.'

'Think she really _cares_ that we care?' Xander asked. 'The "Blue Meanie" nickname stuck for a reason and that was before the whole town falling on top of her thing made her even crankier.'

'She seems to care that we _didn't _care' Cordelia replied reasonably.

Buffy suddenly chuckled. 'You know when I found out the scythe could kill her I told Illyria that made me feel easier about having her around' she told them, 'it meant she was just flesh and blood like the rest of us, but I've never really seen her as a real person before. There were flashes of it, like with her crush on Wesley here, but it's not the same.'

'You mean the physical vulnerability was one thing but the psychological is something else?' Fred asked. 'They say it's our imperfections that make us who we are.'

Angel shook his head and offered his hand to Wesley. 'You should have told us but if it makes a difference I'm sorry' he told him.

Wesley regarded the hand for a while before taking it. 'Next time I tell you to back off on something kindly assume I'm doing it for a good reason' he told him.

'You really care about Smurfette huh?' Faith asked.

'She needs somebody to' Wesley replied. It was far more than that, he needed somebody to care about too. When he thought she'd died he hadn't just been howling for her but himself, it was a selfish thought but it was true nonetheless, he needed to need someone and be needed in return. It would keep him sane and away from the abyss he knew, and when you got right down to it Wesley wanted to be loved and if the source of that happened to be a demon goddess well at least she was smart and attractive.

'Okay we'll forget all of this ever happened right?' Buffy ordered. 'Illyria gets treated with kid gloves until she's her old self again okay?'

'Couldn't we hope for something a bit better than her old self though?' Xander asked hopefully. 'If Wes decides to take a swing at me for saying that you'll stop him right?' he asked Buffy quickly.

'You're on your own Harris' Buffy told him.

Wesley turned and looked at Xander raising the fist he'd struck Angel with before 'To quote young Stephen earlier today when Giles let him beat up Sirk "This is going to be sweet" was the phrase used I seem to recall.'

'Is it just me or are watchers getting meaner suddenly?' Faith asked Buffy.

'It had to happen eventually' Buffy replied. 'You can't dress like that every day for years on end and be that damn polite without eventually go postal.'

'Girls got a point' Gunn interjected. 'I mean who _can't_ imagine English here up a clock tower with a sniper rifle?' he asked.

'You know what' Wesley declared. 'Each and every one of you can kiss my pasty pink English arse' he told them.

'She never said we had to give _you_ any slack' Faith pointed out.

Wesley looked around then smirked 'If you want me I'll be on the roof with my girlfriend' he said. 'If any of _you_ losers end up with a proper, half-way normal love life we can double date' he said smugly and marched off.

Angel watched him go. 'You're right they _are_ getting meaner' he told Faith sadly.


	2. Chapter 2

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER TWO**

**Demon Bar – Los Angeles – June 2003**

'You know you've really arrived when not a single one of them has the guts to make eye contact' Faith declared pulling herself up onto a stool. 'I'll take a beer' she told the barman who quickly found a clean glass and began pouring her a draft.

'And who said you could leave?' Kennedy asked seating herself next to Faith as a particularly shifty looking demon started to make his way towards the exit. Another Slayer stepped in front of the door and began to absent-mindedly play with the very large bowie knife she pulled from a sheath inside the short leather jacket she was wearing. 'And in case your wondering yes we do have people on the back door too' Kennedy told the room. 'I'll take a beer too' she said.

'Got ID?' the barman asked nervously.

Kennedy grinned. 'You're kidding right?' she asked.

'She'll have a coke' Faith told the barman. 'And I'm giving you a point for carding underage drinkers' she told him.

Faith took a swig from her glass, it wasn't that bad surprisingly, before turning on her stool to face the room. 'Okay here's how it is' she began. 'You've all heard the news on the street that this town is going through a Slayer population explosion. Well it's true' she told them. 'I mean we're just _everywhere_' she said. 'Slayers popping up all over the place, hassling demons, dusting vampires, beating up random assholes that annoy us, well you get the idea' she continued looking around the room at the collection of undesirable elements that frequented the bar. 'Now while we _could_ just kill everything that doesn't bleed red or burst into flames in sunlight that would be a drag so we're issuing a friendly warning' she advised. 'Leave the humans alone and you get to keep the body parts you want' she told them taking another drink.

'So want to choose one at random to make an example of them?' Kennedy asked eyeing the coke she'd just been handed unenthusiastically.

Faith thought about that for a second. 'Any of you assholes going to be hurting any humans?' she asked loudly looking at a low chorus of negative sounding grunts and shaken heads. 'Hang on' she said suddenly, 'do I know you?' she asked pointing across the room at a pool player who had been trying to keep out of sight.

The Strom Demon winced at the recognition and tried to look inoffensive. He'd learned his lesson on who not to pick a fight with last time.

'So Wes was right the face does grow back on you guys' Faith said half-turning towards Kennedy. 'Wes and I rousted a bar a few blocks over looking for Angelus a few months back, that guy decided he didn't like our style' she explained.

'What happened?' Kennedy asked curiously taking a sip of her coke.

'Twelve-gauge in the face, took it right off' Faith replied. 'You know my watcher, he doesn't fuck around.'

'You guys let him live?' Kennedy asked in surprise.

Faith shrugged. 'We were feeling generous' she replied finishing off her beer and placing the empty glass on the bar.

'On the house' the barman said quickly.

Faith smirked. 'This isn't a protection racket' she said flipping a few bucks onto the bar. 'If it was you couldn't afford how much it would cost to buy us off' she told the barman getting up to leave, Kennedy following abandoning her half-finished coke.

The Slayer by the door put away her knife and held open the door for Faith. Following the pair outside once they'd gone through.

The barman breathed a sigh of relief and the bar denizens relaxed. He turned to pour himself a large scotch then flinched when he heard the door open again spinning to face it.

Faith walked back in and racked the pump-action shotgun she'd retrieved from the trunk of the car waiting outside.

'Re-thought the making an example idea' she said and blew the horrified looking Strom demons face off again. 'And to think they actually pay me to do this' she said happily as she left the bar again resting the shotgun on her shoulder leaving the unfortunate demon to lie bleeding on the floor in a pool of blood and small chucks of flesh that had been his face. It hurt just as much as it had last time he thought through the pain.

'Okay if any of you are planning to get out of town' the barman said loudly. 'I expect you to pay your tab first' he told his patrons.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – June 2003**

'This is punishment right?' the slayer asked as she started peeling another potato. She had only arrived the day before from somewhere in the Midwest and she felt more than a little excluded from the group, all the other slayers had been in Sunnydale but she was the first of the unblooded newbies.

'No this is tonight's dinner' Amanda replied checking the oven. 'We've got like fifty mouths to feed and so we take turns to help out in the kitchen. Today it's our turn, it'll be our turn again in a few days.'

'Less talking more peeling' Andrew declared straightening his new chef's hat. 'I need those all peeled, cut up and ready to be pre-boiled before roasting in the next half hour or dinner will be late and I won't be the one that has to explain that to Buffy' he told them. 'Foolish girl' he said to another Slayer. 'If you don't whisk that properly the Funnel Cake will be a disaster' he said snatching the wire whisk from her.

'And he's a bad guy?' the newbie asked.

Amanda picked up a potato peeler and started to help with the peeling. 'He's redeeming himself' she replied.

'With cooking?' the newly arrived slayer asked dropping a peeled potato into the plastic container for them.

'And other things' Amanda told her. 'He's really good at drawing up plans and things.'

The newbie continued to work. 'So what did he do?'

'Killed his best friend so he could use his blood to open the Hellmouth Seal' Amanda told her.

'He did _what_?' the girl asked stopping work.

'Wait until you hear what some of the other people around here have done in the past' Amanda told her. 'Some of them pretty recently' she added and indicated that they needed to keep working.

'Yeah? Like what?' the newbie asked.

'Well' Amanda began thinking, 'Angel and Spike were like the worst vampires like _ever_' she began, Willow tried to end the world last year, Faith escaped from prison where she was doing time for murder, Wesley is like borderline psychotic, Anya was a vengeance demon and killed people for a thousand years or something, you know about Ben and Glory right?' The newbie nodded, she didn't really believe one word of it though. 'Yeah well you don't see Glory much, she doesn't like being around and we don't feed her enough for her to stay long when she is' she told her. 'Illyria is okay but she's in a bad mood about something so you'd better keep clear of her for now.'

This is a crazy house, the slayer thought, crazy hotel anyway. 'Anybody else I should know about?'

'Yeah well Connor will flirt with you but he doesn't take it too seriously, I think he just likes having so many girls around' Amanda told her. 'If we're talking boys there's Stephen but he doesn't flirt with Slayers, I think he thinks it's unprofessional or something and anyway he's wrapped up in Watcherette.'

'Watcherette?' the girl asked working on yet another potato.

'Emily, the watcher girl with the twin sisters' Amanda replied. 'She's nice and she knows a lot about demon stuff so if you don't want to ask Giles or Wesley a question because you think it's dumb you can ask her instead' she suggested. 'We call Stephen D'Artagnon sometimes because he's really good with a sword, he'll teach you fencing stuff, but he doesn't like being called that so don't do it to his face.'

'What about the girls?'

'Buffy is in charge, don't ever forget it' Amanda told her. 'Faith is like her second in command but there's always some friction between them.'

'Personality clash?' the newbie asked. 'I've only talked to them a little but they're really different.'

Amanda pursed her lips. 'I think it's more to do with Faith trying to kill her' she considered. 'You might be able to forgive something like that but forgetting it's another matter' she said. 'Kennedy is like the unofficial third-in-command, she's older and was in training longer than most of us. There's a sort of hierarchy based on field time after that, Vi and Molly are probably next with Rona and me just below because we never had watchers of our own like they did and they know a bit more slayer-stuff than we do. If you want to know anything to do with Slayers Molly will have the answer written down somewhere and she knows the Handbook backwards too. She's not as mean as Vi though, we started calling _her_ the gunslayer because she shoots better than anyone you'll ever see… except for Wesley.'

'I hear talking but I don't see enough peeling' Andrew interjected loudly from across the kitchen 'there's still the other vegetables after those' he reminded them. 'As for you over there you'll need to pick up the pace to have enough starters for everyone' he declared. 'Chop, chop people' he berated them.

'We think he watches too many cookery programs with rude chefs in them' Amanda remarked. 'And some of the girls think he's kinda gay' she added more quietly.

**Warehouse – Los Angeles – June 2003**

'_This_ is the boss' Emil asked in clear astonishment.

Wesley nodded. 'I like to think of myself as a freelance associate but to all intents and purposes yes' he replied. 'Buffy may I introduce Emil, Emil this is Buffy.'

The arms dealer looked at the petite blond. 'Buffy? You're serious?' he asked nonplussed.

The Chief Slayer resisted the urge to punch him or something and sat down across from Emil at the small table. He had two guards behind him, the obvious bulges of pistols ruining the cut of their jackets. Buffy had Wesley stood to her right and Gunn to her left, the latter really looked the part but her real security was being provided by the four slayers concealed elsewhere in the building.

'You'd be surprised how many times I get that reaction to my name' Buffy told him.

Emil shook his head. 'Honestly no I wouldn't, unless it's never' he responded. 'So how can I be of service to my best customer today?' he asked, meshing his fingers in front of him on the table.

'Mr Wyndham-Pryce has a list of new items that we would like you to obtain for us' Buffy replied. 'If you have any issues with them please direct them his way, he's very much our expert.'

'So why are you here if he's got the list?' Emil asked.

'I thought it would be best to meet you in person' Buffy responded. 'You have been of service to my people and the hardware we purchased from you has proven itself reliable and competitively priced, or so I'm told' she continued. 'I like to have face-to-face meetings with anyone I deal with at least once.'

Emil smiled. 'Yes it is' he replied. 'So many people just use go-betweens these days' he told her. 'If supplier and consumer can't look each other in the eyes occasionally then where is the relationship?'

'Exactly my thoughts' Buffy told him with a charming smile. 'If our dealings were, how can I say it delicately, more legal, we would be only too happy to attest to your reliability and professionalism publicly.'

'A satisfied customer is a long-term investment' Emil replied. 'One must strive to keep ones clients coming back for more' he said. 'Repeat business is what keeps the wheels of commerce flowing after all.'

'Our turnover of munitions is expected to rise if anything' Wesley told him. 'So you're sure of plenty of future sales as long as you maintain your quality and prices' he continued. 'You might find some of the items extremely hard to source, perhaps impossible in fact, but we are willing to pay a premium if required' he said handing over the list.

Emil read down the page his eyebrows raised as he reached the more excessively destructive items at the bottom. 'Nothing I can't get' he said, 'but this will take three months at least' he told them pointing at one line on the sheet. 'Demand is exceeding supply because of the Middle-East situation' he explained.

'How is that affecting your business incidentally?' Wesley asked out of curiosity.

The arms dealer smiled. 'Plenty of PMC's getting themselves prepared for forthcoming contracts' he said. 'Most of my sales are above board you know.'

'PMC's' Buffy asked.

'Private Military Companies' Wesley explained. 'Mercenaries' he added.

'The Dogs of War may have an unsavoury reputation but they always have the money to settle their bills' Emil told the young woman. 'Of course if you cross them they'll track you down and kill you so it's best not to try skimming anything off the top.'

'He knows _we'll_ kill him too if he crosses us right?' Buffy asked Wesley.

'He's well aware' Wesley replied. 'Besides which he knows exactly how heavily armed we are' he added exchanging nods with Emil.

'Never double-cross someone you sold a shipment of functional military weaponry too' the Arms Dealer advised. 'It means all the funds you've saved up for retirement end up wasted on a lavish funeral for whatever remains they can find to bury.'

'Oh there was one thing' Buffy said. 'Those collapsible swords, if we bulk ordered could we get them engraved?'

'I dare say my people could oblige what were you thinking?' Emil asked.

Buffy produced a piece of paper with a drawing on it which she handed over. 'Just the shield motif there with the two crossed scythes on it' she said.

'On the blade or the wrist mechanism?' Emil asked looking at it. It wasn't a hugely complex or detailed design.

'Both by preference' Buffy replied.

Emil nodded. 'That should be possible, how many units do you want?' he asked getting out a pen and notebook.

'A hundred to start with' Buffy replied.

The arms dealer smiled. 'For that many I'll have the engraving thrown in for free' he told her. 'Is one of them for you?' he asked. 'If so would you like your initials on it as a custom unit?' he asked.

Buffy beamed. 'That would be very nice of you' she replied. 'It's B.A.S.' she told him as he wrote it down. 'And would it be possible to have the wrist mechanism on mine in metallic red too?' she asked fluttering her eyelashes at him.

Emil smiled back. 'For my best customer anything' he said.

Gunn coughed. 'Oh and could my friend here order a custom battle-axe made of…' Buffy said turning to Gunn 'what was it?'

'Aerospace grade titanium like those swords, but much heftier' he said. 'Someone bent my old one so I was hoping for something tougher next time' Gunn told the arms dealer, still lamenting the loss of his old axe that the Beast had ruined.

Wesley looked at him. 'You've _got_ an axe' he pointed out.

'One of Angels' Gunn replied, 'It's borrowed and it's an antique' Gunn replied. 'I want high-tech' he continued. 'Can it look a bit like this?'

Emil knew enough not to ask why he wanted a battle-axe he just took the photograph Gunn passed him of him holding his pride and joy. 'Does it have to look so much like someone cut up a car?' he asked. 'I think my weaponsmith could redesign it to a more structurally sound design.'

'Just so it looks modern' Gunn replied. 'I'm sick of looking like I just came from a Renaissance Faire' he said.

'He just doesn't look good in a corset' Wesley deadpanned ignoring the look Gunn threw his way in response. 'So how long for the grenades?' he asked.

'Two weeks for the lot but I can get you the fragmentation by next Wednesday' Emil replied. 'I'll send them around with a gift basket' he said 'for my favourite customer' he said to Buffy taking and kissing her hand.

'Chivalry is not dead apparently' Buffy noted.

'If it truly were I would sell less swords' Emil replied. 'I'll be in contact when I have the other items' he told them and turned to leave his guards following.

After they left Buffy got up and looked at Wesley. 'Well at least he's not a drugs dealer' she said.

Wesley nodded in agreement. 'As amoral arms dealers with loose ethics go I always found him to be… tolerable' he replied. 'And he _does_ have a reputation for honesty and fair dealing.'

Buffy looked around the warehouse. 'I feel like a Mob Boss' she declared. 'If he does cross us can I trust you to deal with it?' she asked Wesley seriously. 'I don't want the girls involved.'

Wesley nodded. 'If our current amiable relationship with him collapses I'll see to it personally' he told her. 'Drop the hammer on him. Bada bing, bada boom' he said in a faux Italian accent pulling open one side of his jacket to show off one of the pistols he was carrying in its shoulder holster. 'Are you going to start calling Giles your consigliere?' he asked.

'Fancy the job yourself goombah?' Buffy asked.

'Fuhgeddaboudit' Wesley replied. 'I'm happy where I am Don Summerlione.'

'I knew getting HBO at the hotel was a mistake' Gunn declared 'too many episodes of the Soprano's.'

'Woke up this morning, got yourself a gun' Wesley sang. 'I love that theme tune' he said following Buffy as she headed for the exit.

'I'm shocked' Buffy replied tongue-in-cheek 'but we need to get home. You do have that shotgun to shine.'

'Did you have to mention that? Didn't you papa tell you right from wrong?' Wesley asked.

'Can we leave the running joke alone now?' Gunn requested.

'Well she _is_ the chosen one' Wesley pointed out.

'One in a million' Buffy declared.

'Enough!' Gunn pleaded.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – June 2003**

'Get lost Spike' Angel said.

'Make me' the incorporeal vampire replied smugly.

'I'm trying to work here' Angel told him. 'Bug someone else.'

Spike considered that. 'Nah I think I'll stay here and annoy you.'

'You're enjoying this' Angel said bitterly.

'Winding you up?' Spike asked. 'Oh hell yes.'

Angel threw the book he was reading at Spike, the tome sailing right through him and landing on the floor. 'You know if I was you I'd pick that up' Spike told him. 'I would but you-know, ghost' he said.

'Ghosts are usually less happy about it' Angel told him.

'Ah but they don't know it's just temporary' Spike said. 'I'm just enjoying it while it lasts.'

'Yes I know I heard the screaming earlier' Angel said. 'You know that girl is going to put a stake in you as soon as you're solid again.'

'Honest mistake mate' Spike claimed holding up his hands. 'I forgot my room number and walked through the wrong wall into the wrong bathroom.'

'Where a teenage girl just _happened_ to be taking a shower?' Angel asked wryly.

'I never said it wasn't a bloody _lucky_ honest mistake now did I?' Spike asked. 'Anyhow she wasn't the only one that suffered, her scream nearly gave me a heart attack.'

'Your heart doesn't beat even when you _are_ solid' Angel pointed out.

'You know what I mean' Spike retorted. 'Anyhow shouldn't you be out fighting evil?'

Angel retrieved his book from the floor making sure to impolitely walk straight through Spike en-route. 'There's something like twenty Slayers on patrol out there at this very second' he said. 'It's difficult to _find_ evil to fight' he told him. 'It's all gone to ground.'

'You could check the sewers' Spike suggested. 'Always something down there' he pointed out.

Angel sighed. 'If I didn't know better I'd think you were trying to get rid of me' he said.

Spike looked guilty for a momentary second then shook his head. 'No I'm just bored' he told him.

'You want me out of the way so you can talk to Buffy' Angel said smirking. 'Well guess who's going to bug who now?' he asked.

The other vampire looked at him. 'You wouldn't?' he asked nervously.

'Make sure you're never alone with Buffy?' Angel asked. 'Oh yes I would. She's too good for you and anyhow it would drive you insane.'

Spike subconsciously bared his teeth. 'Why can't you leave us alone' he asked angrily.

'Why don't you _make_ me' Angel responded with a superior grin. 'The not being able to touch each other thing goes both ways' he pointed out.

'Maybe we could do a deal' Spike offered eventually. 'I think I'll go and chat with Willow for a bit, leave you alone to read' he told him. 'The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't as they say.'

Angel opened his book to the page he'd been on. 'I'll see you later Spikey' he said. '_Much_ later.'

Spike left the office and walked across the lobby. One of the Slayers milling about glared at him. 'Don't get your knickers in a twist Love' he told the girl. 'At least if anyone doubts you're really a natural blond you can send them to me for confirmation' he told her loud enough for half the building to hear.

'It's a good thing he's not the invisible kind of ghost' Angel said quietly to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER THREE**

**East Hills Teen Centre – Los Angeles – June 2003**

'They'll unload the truck and then we can be on our way' Gunn called back to where it was parked just in front of the shelter casting shadows from the streetlights. 'Course you could speed things up and help' he added, reaching out to knock but the door opened before he could. 'How ya been?' he asked with a smile.

'Not bad, shelters doing okay' the young blond woman replied. 'Sure you can spare this stuff?' she asked looking at the boxes in the back of the truck. Gunn had phoned ahead to let her know they were donating some things.

Gunn smiled. 'Not a problem, we're refurbishing over at the Hotel and this stuff is surplus to requirements' he told her. 'Now it ain't brand new or anything but it ain't junk neither' he continued. 'Some of it should raise a few bucks and I reckon you might be able to use the rest right here.'

'Always grateful for anything you can give' she replied honestly, the shelter wasn't close to closing down or anything but it always needed money to keep it that way.

A woman completely obscured by a very large box she was carrying appeared behind Gunn. 'Someone had better steer me because they didn't throw X-Ray vision in with the superpower package, it was extra.'

'Just put that down there I'll get one of the guys to shift it inside' the blond replied.

As the box was lowered they made eye contact.

'Buffy?' the young woman asked in surprise.

'Whatever it is you're calling yourself now?' Buffy replied with a smile.

'I stuck with Anne but yes' the Shelter Manager said with a grin and offered Buffy a hug which the Slayer accepted after putting the box aside.

'So I'm thinking you two know each other?' Gunn asked chuckling.

'From Sunnydale and later here in LA' Buffy replied. 'You run this place?' she asked.

Anne nodded. 'Couple of years now' she replied. 'Still killing vampires?'

'It's steady work but the hours are kinda sucky' Buffy responded. 'I'm really impressed with what you're doing here' she told her.

'Your doing in a way, setting me up with your old waitressing job to put me on my feet, helping me grow up a bit' Anne replied. 'I decided that it was my turn to help other people that needed it so here I am. Say do you want to look around?' she asked brightly.

'I'm not in a rush' Buffy replied. It was nice to see someone who had made a difference, tried to make things better, but without swinging a sword to do it. The notion that it could be traced back to her own actions also made Buffy feel mighty pleased with herself into the bargain.

Gunn looked at her. 'Five minutes ago it was "Passions starts in twenty minutes we'd better not be late" or was that another white chick sitting next to me in the truck looking at her watch?'

'I'll get someone to TiVo it' Buffy said reaching for her cell phone. 'Spike we're staying for a while' she called out.

'Bloody hell' Spike called back. 'It's the late-night special' he complained getting out of the back of the truck.

Anne's jaw dropped.

Buffy cringed. 'Oh yeah you know Spike too' she remembered. 'He's not bad anymore' she told her quickly.

'Yes I bleeding well am' Spike protested. 'Hang on aren't you the tasty bit that wanted me to turn her back in Sunnydale?' he asked curiously.

'You wanted to be a vampire?' Gunn asked in surprise.

'Too many Anne Rice Books' Anne replied still staring at Spike. 'So what happened to him?' she asked.

'He got his soul back' Buffy replied.

'Like Angel?' Anne asked.

Spikes right eye twitched. 'I swear, the next person that compares me to that brooding tosser is going to get their face rearranged' he said raising a fist menacingly.

'Don't take any notice' Gunn told Anne. 'He's a ghost now and can't back up the threats' he told her reaching out to wave his arm through Spike who glared at him then waved his own incorporeal arm through Gunn in retaliation.

Anne blinked a few times. 'He's a ghost vampire… with a soul?' she said doubtfully.

'Soon as we find a zombie-werewolf-poltergeist to bite him, and we put a bolt through his neck, he'll be able to run the whole monster gambit' Gunn joked. 'And feel guilty about it too' he added.

'I died, actually _died_, saving the world and I still don't get any respect' Spike protested. 'What's a man got to do?'

'Face it' Buffy told him. 'We've set the bar pretty high.'

'He saved the world?' Anne asked incredulously.

Gunn nodded. 'Trust me, if you came around to our crib and started talking to people, the number of times one or another of us has saved the world, or at least a major chunk of it, would keep you up at night' he told her. 'I didn't use to think it was in that much peril' he added sadly.

'Regarding the world-saving I'm still _way_ ahead on points' Buffy declared, 'buncha wannabes' she said dismissively, rolling her eyes but with her tongue planted firmly in her cheek. 'So you're going to give us a tour?' she asked.

Anne reached out her own hand and swiped it through Spike to make sure, she couldn't really imagine Gunn or Buffy hanging with a dangerous vampire but they did lead really weird lives even compared to some of the things she'd seen. 'Do you still need to be invited in?' she asked Spike.

Spike shrugged. 'Yeah but once you do I can go through the wall' he replied with a cheesy grin. This ghost thing was a lot of fun but he doubted he'd feel that way if he was a _real_ spook.

'Let's stick to doors' Anne replied leading them inside. 'The last thing some of my kids need is to think that the other weird stuff they've seen was real too and _wasn't_ just due to the drugs and booze' she told them.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – June 2003**

'You do not need to stay here with me' Illyria told him. 'I know you would sleep better in your bed.'

Wesley continued to unroll his sleeping-bag. 'It's a nice night' he said. 'By LA standards anyway' he added. 'You can actually see a few stars through all the light pollution and the stuff they laughingly call "air" here' he remarked. It was very strange how Illyria could be so calm, normal and at ease up here but after a few minutes inside she started to get more and more anxious. He only comparison he could make with his own life was his reaction to his father, as long as the old man wasn't around Wesley acted as if he didn't exist and for the most part the fact he actually did had no bearing or effect of Wesley's life whatsoever, but as soon as they were together he completely lost the plot and all the logic in the world couldn't override the emotional gut reaction. Like most phobics Illyria basically _knew_ her fear was daft and illogical but that didn't help much at all, out here she was just fine, other than for her occasional bouts of shame for her weakness, but go though that small door over there, back inside the hotel and it was like flicking a switch, instant cranky demon god, just add walls.

'You are just lucky you do not have my sense of smell' Illyria told him as he unfurled a blanket next to his sleeping bag for them to sit on. Wesley sat down on it leaning back against a small brick structure which had an air-conditioning unit planted on top of it and Illyria joined him sitting next to him as he placed his arm around her shoulder as she snuggled up to him. She was in her Ria form which made the whole process much easier, her armour was flexible but not well suited to either sitting comfortably or cuddling up to someone for that matter.

'Smells bad here?' Wesley asked.

'Everything smells bad' Illyria replied.

'Me too?' Wesley asked with a half smile.

Illyria frowned. 'Yes' she admitted, 'but I find your pheromones very appealing' she added.

Wesley chuckled. 'Well that's nice to know' he responded. 'You can pick those up?' he asked curiously.

'Human and the even lower life-forms of this era' Illyria replied. 'I am just grateful your species does not go into heat, as the great number of young women in this building would likely cause me to sneeze incessantly' she told him half in jest. 'I think Connor likes the smell that they do generate though, he has a vampires senses but with the sharper appreciation of taste and smell than only a living human possesses.'

'That makes sense I suppose' Wesley noted. 'How does Connor smell to you?'

'Much as you would expect' Illyria replied. 'Mostly human with a hint of vampire' she told him. 'There is much of his father there and presumably his mother also but I would not know for sure, the shell met her but Fred's senses were, or are, merely human.'

Wesley reached over and picked up a small box of candy which he offered Illyria who took one and popped it in her mouth. 'I imagine that adding in your superior eyesight I'm practically disabled by your standards' he joked.

'At least you realise that' Illyria replied. 'You have other redeeming features that make up for your physical imperfections however.'

Wesley took a piece of candy for himself although to him of course it was a "sweet". 'Do tell' he said.

'You are unusually intelligent' Illyria began. 'You are skilled in various forms of combat techniques and have above human-average hand-eye coordination, you do not let your passions swamp your reason and you kiss very well.'

'How many men have you actually kissed?' Wesley asked wryly.

'That is beside the point' Illyria replied with a smile. 'Also' she added looking away. 'You care about me and though I wish I was indifferent to that I find that makes me very happy.'

'Welcome to the human, or should I say inhuman, condition' Wesley told her and turned his head to kiss her on the cheek. 'It makes me happy to have someone to care about' he told her.

'Want to make out?' Illyria asked. 'I know you are still resisting my offers of sex for some inexplicable reason but we do not have to go that far until you are more certain of our relationship' she continued. 'Anya suggested I wait for you in your room naked but I will hold off on such direct methods of seduction for now.'

'For _now_?' Wesley asked grinning.

'You are not getting any younger' Illyria replied flatly. 'I refuse to wait around while you deteriorate physically without getting some use out of you.'

'Ah but then the question would be could I tempt you to spend a night indoors if I offered you my body' he asked her with amusement.

Illyria looked him over. 'It will be interesting to see how long it is before my dislike of enclosed spaces is overridden by feelings of lust.'

'Best scientific experiment I've ever heard of' Wesley replied with a wink. 'I've never been more grateful to be a lab-rat.'

'I am the lab-rat Wesley' Illyria told him. 'That would make _you_ the cheese.'

'Not gorgonzola I hope' Wesley replied eyes twinkling.

'You don't smell _that _bad' Illyria told him. 'So are we going to fool around or not?' she demanded to know. 'Holding hands can only take a girl so far' she said coyly.

Wesley looked at her lasciviously. 'You didn't really think I was up here for the sub-standard star-gazing did you?' he asked.

'I _was_ starting to fear the worst' she replied as they moved into a kiss.

**Badlands – Los Angeles – June 2003**

The crew watched and waited, the vamps had been keeping a low profile in the neighbourhood but they had to come up for something to eat sometime and it looked like this was the night.

The bloodsuckers were moving cautiously, there was something very wrong with how they were acting recently, more like prey than predator, it wasn't right at all. Some of the old crew that were still around said it could be Charles Gunn and that "good" vamp he hung with putting the hurt on the others but they hadn't seen either of them in the hood recently.

'Game time' one of the crew said loudly and stepped out from the concealment of a doorway carrying a home-made crossbow. 'Nobody invited you onto our turf' he told the half dozen or so vampires that had emerged from a derelict building, four male and two female, the latter looking even more anxious than their companions, if that was possible.

The lead vampire looked around and breathed a methaphorical sigh of relief. 'Shit it's just the street trash' he said. 'I thought we were in trouble.'

'What makes you think you aren't in trouble?' another one of the crew asked stepping out into the glow of the streetlights.

The vampire grinned baring his teeth 'Never had too much trouble with human scum' he replied getting ready to pounce the others doing likewise.

'What about Slayers?' a voice asked loudly from across the street. 'Ever had that kind of trouble?' the stranger asked moving into view hands in her pockets like she didn't have a care in the world.

The lead vampire winced and turned around to face the newcomer completely ignoring the human with a crossbow pointed at his back. 'Slayer' he hissed.

'Slayer_s,_ plural' another teenage girl remarked appearing next to the first. 'We travel in packs now like you' she said, 'only with more style and we try and coordinate our outfits' she told them looking over the vampires with distain. 'Don't you guys even _try_ and keep up with fashion trends?' she asked.

'Uh, boss?' one of the other vampires said nervously holding a bike chain which he was nervously playing with.

'Shut up' the lead vampire told him sharply. 'There's only two of them' he pointed out.

'Since when has two constituted a pack?' yet another girl asked in a bemused tone as she walked into line of sight from a side street. This one was carrying a large sword in full view, resting it against her shoulder in a relaxed manner.

'What the fuck is this shit?' one of the youths from the local crew said loudly. 'Who the fuck are you?' he asked the girls.

'We're Vampire Slayers' the girl with her hands in her pockets replied leaning back against a lamppost. 'Thanks for being the bait but you can let the professionals handle it from now on' she told him.

'Hey we've been dealing with vamps around here for years' the youth replied indicating his crossbow. 'And no offence, I mean you're hot and all, but you're a skinny white chick' he pointed out, 'better let us handle this' he told her.

The Slayer laughed and pulled her hands out of her pocket straightening up. 'Tell you what if any of them aren't dust in say five minutes you can step in' she said reaching inside her jacket and pulling out a turned wooden stake.

'We are so dead' one of the female vampires said in distress.

Three minutes and fifteen seconds later she was proved absolutely correct. It would have been quicker but the Slayers played with the last one a while throwing him against a wall a couple of times to see how high up off the ground they could bounce him off it.

When the last dust began to settle the slayers found themselves having several crossbows pointed at them. 'You ain't human' one of the Crew declared. 'People can't beat vamps up like that' he said.

'We're human' the slayer with the sword replied. 'Just with a few extra powers so we can deal with those creeps' she said taking a piece of rag from the pocket of her jeans and wiping the blade clean. 'There's a few of us in town at the moment, kinda like a convention, so we're sorting out the local vamps and demons while we're here. Public service, giving something back to the community.'

'I heard that' one of the crew responded. 'So many of you are there?'

'About forty in LA at the moment' the first Slayer replied.

'And you're all… girls?' he continued.

The Slayer grinned. 'Three dozen hot chicks with superpowers' she told him. 'Maybe you should look us up?' she said flirting a bit. 'We're staying at the Hyperion that's over on…'

'The Hyperion?' one of the more established crew members repeated. 'Gunn's crib?' he asked.

'You guys know Gunn?' the slayer with the sword asked. 'Small world' she continued with a smile putting away the rag and resting her sword back on her shoulder.

'And _now_ I know why we never see him around here any more' he said shaking his head. He must have done something good in a past life he thought.

The first slayer reached into her jack and after putting away her stake pulled out a business card which she handed over. 'Get any vamp or demon trouble call the number and they'll send over some help' she told him.

He held up the card to the light. 'Angel Investigations' he read. 'What's this a picture of 'he asked. 'A moth?'

**Wolfram and Hart Building – Los Angeles – June 2003**

'Science Division reports they have a lock on the target and the satellite is coming into line of sight' Eve announced putting her hand over the mouthpiece of the telephone so the geeks couldn't overhear what was being said in the boardroom.

'Convenient for her to be in the same place every night' one of the board remarked, 'cuts down on the collateral damage' he continued.

'More important than that we need a stationary target to focus on' Eve replied. 'It's not like microwaving a frozen dinner. If we don't hit her with a concentrated enough beam the bitch might be tough enough to live' she told the board. 'Science Division says they can send us a live image'she said the phone still against her ear.

The projector on the boardroom table switched on and the lights dimmed automatically. The live feed was grainy but how many law firms could claim they had their own spy satellite.

Lilah somehow managed to stop herself from reacting to the image. Wesley was up there on the Hotel roof with the bitch and they weren't apparently just talking either.

It was too dark to see Eve's expression but she made her reaction clear with a burst of laughter that others initially joined in with but stifled quickly when Lilah made a low growl. Watching the bosses former "lover" making out with a demon on top of a building was funny but letting her know you thought so could result in unpleasntness.

'So should I tell them to cancel?' Eve asked.

'Why?' Lilah replied.

'Well I thought you wouldn't want to microwave your beau?' Eve told her.

Lilah closed the file on her desk. 'Go ahead as planned' she ordered inwardly wincing at her own words. She told herself it would be quick, and the bastard deserved it for dumping her, that she didn't need anyone and he was the enemy but that was bullshit. She was ordering the death of the man she still loved, the only one that had somehow managed to get through her armour and she would pay for it for eternity.

Eve gave the order.

Hundreds of miles above the _second_ Wolfram and Hart satellite in orbit over Los Angeles activated and powered up. According to official records it was a communications satellite but most did not have the ability to focus their signals into a concentrated microwave signal that could cook a person from orbit raising the temperature of the target by a thousand degrees in five seconds flat. Illyria was tough but not that tough, as for Wesley he'd be cooked from the inside out in a split second. It wouldn't even be noticed amidst the flurry of normal signals bouncing around one zap and it was game over. In order to get the juice to take out Illyria they'd probably burn out the satellite but Wolfram and Hart could always fork out another hundred million to replace it, the Chinese were even offering cut-price launches at the moment undercutting NASA, ESA and even the Russians.

The satellite charged to full power… and then promptly suffered complete systems failure and fused out half its command circuits.

At the Wolfram and Hart Building all power failed, the servers crashed and databases were systematically wiped.

'What the hell is this shit?' Lilah asked loudly finding herself sitting in the dark.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – June 2003**

'So who the hell are you?' Spike asked the geeky looking man carrying a holdall and a laptop case who had walked in off the street.

'Oh yeah Hi' the man replied in a slightly nervous manner like he wasn't too good at dealing with people. 'You don't know me but I just stopped Wolfram and Hart turning you all into microwave popcorn' he declared. 'You can call me Knox, I'm here to serve and worship the God-King Illyria' he told them. 'I was the head honcho over at their science division' he told Spike importantly. 'I've been waiting to jump ship until the right moment and this was it.'

Spike looked him up and down, this guy looked like a serious nerd he thought. 'Can somebody go find Blue and tell her she's got a groupie in the lobby' he said to a few of the Slayers hanging around. There were always a few of them in the Lobby, it was like an unofficial clubhouse much to Angels chagrin.

'Respectfully also inform the Shaper of Things that I have bought her weapons with which to make war on the Wolf, Ram and Hart' Knox told the girl who moved to head up to the roof.

Spike eyed the geek dismissively. 'Weapons?' he asked.

Knox raised the laptop bag. 'Scientia potestas est' he said. 'Knowledge is power' he translated. 'I've got fifty gigabytes worth of company files and designs in here' he declared happily. 'The most valuable offering I could find' he explained. 'There's a couple of boxes of plans and documents and a few CD-ROMS outside in my car too do you think I should fetch them?' he asked. 'I want to make the best first impression I can.'

'Then go home and change clothes' Spike told him.

'Who's this guy?' Angel interupted coming up from the basement.

'Illyria worshipper' Spike replied turning to the other vampire and rolling his eyes.

Angel groaned. 'Yeah _that's_ what we need' he said sardonically. 'I was just thinking yesterday, that's what she was really lacking personality wise' he said to spike. 'Not enough ego' he said shaking his head before turning to Knox 'Have you ever considered another religion?' he asked encouragingly. 'Maybe something a bit less crazy and more mainstream like... voodoo?' he asked.

Knox just looked at him blankly.

'Just don't go knocking on the neighbours doors asking them to join and handing out literature' Angel told him forcefully. 'This is LA so you might actually get some takers' he continued, 'and one thing I _never _want to see is this hotel being used as some kind of cult headquarters for a Demon Goddess.'

Spike snorted, Angel always was prone to fantasy he thought.


	4. Chapter 4

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER FOUR**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – June 2003**

You didn't need vampire senses to hear the loud thump outside the front entrance which proceeded Illyria, now in her full armour, walking into the Lobby from outside. Rather than make her way down from the roof in a more conventional manner she had once again saved both time, and the unpleasant experience of making her way down corridors, by jumping off and likely putting another few cracks in the pavement on landing.

Knox had not been expecting the God-King to come from that direction and span to face her, his face a mask of both awe and surprise before he dropped to his knees and prostrated himself.

Illyria looked down at him with some distaste. 'Knox' she said in a less than enthusiastic tone.

'You know the nerd?' Spike asked.

'The God-King is all-knowing' Knox declared still prostrate on the floor.

'You've obviously never watched Jeopardy with her' Spike replied in amusement.

Illyria let the halfbreeds comment slide. 'Knox was my Qwa'ha Xahn in the original timeline' she explained.

'You were an item with this geek?' Spike asked in surprise.

'Don't be ridiculous' Illyria snapped back. The very idea was not only ludicrous it made her practically nauseous.

'But isn't that your pet name for Wes?' Angel asked in mild confusion.

'Wyndham-Pryce is your High Priest?' Knox asked in shock from his position still on the floor. 'Not that I would ever question your choice' he continued, inwardly wincing at the revelation. He'd been hoping for that job himself, he doubted that the Englishmen carried her sacraments or had worshipped her for years. Knox had read his file, he was just a scruffy ex-watcher with an occasional drink problem.

'High Priest?' Spike repeated. 'Would I be right in assuming that psycho-warlock-watcher doesn't know_ that's_ what it means?' he asked grinning, 'cause I'd bet the farm that when he thinks about getting down on his knees before you it isn't to offer a prayer' he continued with a smirk.

'Do not think to talk to the God-King with such disrespect' Knox said angrily raising his head to glare at Spike.

'Shut up' Illyria said.

'Heed the Shaper of Things Vampire' Knox told Spike.

'I was talking to _you_' Illyria told Knox forcefully, 'and get off the floor' she ordered.

Knox scrambled to his feet. 'He'll be averting his gaze next you watch' Spike told Angel.

'He says he's stolen files from Wolfram and Hart to give to you' Angel told Illyria ignoring Spike. 'Might want to get him to sing for Lorne to check he's on the level' he suggested.

'Knox is a loyal servant' Illyria replied, she had never been impressed with him but had seen no cause to doubt the sincerity of his veneration in the admittedly short time he had followed her. 'In a way I owe him my existence' she added.

'Yeah?' Spike asked.

Illyria looked around the room, the lobby was spacious enough not to trigger her claustrophobia to any great extent, at least not for a while, but she could still subconsciously feel the walls and ceiling that surrounded her and it set her teeth on edge. She turned to face Angel 'Knox is the one that exposed the shell to my essence and bought me into being in this form.'

Angel blinked and then gave Knox a look that made him flinch visibly. '_This_ is the guy that killed Fred?' he asked coldly.

'I have never killed a guy named Fred' Knox said quickly, Angel making a note of the fact he didn't actually say "I've never killed anyone" instead. 'I don't even _know _anyone called Fred' Knox added.

'Winnifred Burkle' a young woman said loudly walking down the staircase.

Knox turned and gaped. It was Illyria's doppelganger, damn they were hot too he thought, disturbed by the impure thoughts that flashed through his mind about his God.

Fred appraised him with a look, somehow she had always imagined that the person who killed her was a lot cooler somehow, the notion that Illyria had done it was strangely easier to live with but she was just the weapon not the wielder. 'In the timeline Illyria came from you infected me with her essence' Fred told Knox, she had been privileged with the whole story herself as part of Illyria's attempts to bond. 'I died, she got a new Fred Suit.'

'As outfits go it's a bloody good one' Spike commented then turned to Angel, 'I can't lay a hand on him so do you want to rip his head off or wait until there's another volunteer?' he asked.

Knox panicked slightly and looked to his God for protection, this really wasn't going the way he imagined it would.

'Technically _he_ didn't do it' Fred felt the need to point out. Angel certainly looked like he was weighing up the pros and cons of doing something violent.

'Not yet' Spike said.

'Not ever' Fred replied. 'This timeline doesn't need him to, there's already an Illyria here' she pointed out.

'Two in fact' Illyria noted, 'both myself and the one still trapped in the deeper well' she continued. 'I have already relayed a message to Drogyn via the Dorset Coven telling him he needs to improve security, I do not wish _another_ Old One walking this plane even if it was another me' she said then thought about it, 'in fact _especially_ not another me' she added.

'Drogyn the Battlebrand?' Angel asked in surprise.

'He guards the Deeper Well' Illyria explained. 'He seemed rather perturbed to hear from me and my suggestion he purchase an Xbox for his cave caught him even more off guard I think.'

Knox shook off the strangeness of the conversation, who was he to judge the thought processes of a God? 'Wolfram and Hart tried to assassinate you with a microwave beam from space' he told Illyria. 'I disabled the satellite and much more besides' he continued. 'And I have bought copies of their databases and weapon designs to present to you as a token of my devotion' he said proudly.

'You have done as well as could be expected' Illyria replied then turned to Fred. 'The version of Knox that ended your life already paid the price, Wesley shot him dead, but if you wish the life of this one I offer it to you' the God-King said emotionlessly and seized the hapless engineer in a headlock ready to snap his neck. Knox didn't struggle though whether that was because of his belief that Illyria could do no wrong, or simply because he was too surprised was hard to tell.

Fred's jaw dropped. 'Don't kill him' she said quickly.

'Your choice' Illyria replied and released a very relieved looking Knox. 'This one is a highly skilled scientist and engineer, at least you believed so according to your memories, he was your assistant and is so again' she told Fred then address Knox, 'You are vassal to this one' Illyria told Knox, 'you will assist her in making weapons and other tasks which are required in making war on the Wolf, Ram and Hart' she ordered.

'Of course God-King I will serve in any way you desire' Knox replied bowing his head submissively.

'It will be for the best if you remain as innocuous and helpful as possible' Illyria told Knox. 'There will be several here that will regard you as a possible threat so do not provoke them.'

'Can you not order them to leave me be?' Knox asked.

'The humans here are my allies not my subjects' Illyria told him with a shrug.

Knox looked around. 'They should worship at your feet' he stated.

Illyria couldn't help but agree, she was however confident they would wise up eventually. 'If you need me I'll be on the roof' Illyria declared. Any longer inside and she would start feeling tetchy.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – June 2003**

'I've skimmed about ten percent of the files and like… wow' Willow said looking around. They were set up around a large table in the dining room that they had started using for conferences, Angel and Faith were watching Knox most of the rest of the scoobies and the LA gang were here. 'Financial and personnel records, client information, scans of mystical texts and prophecies' she listed. 'We're talking the intelligence goldmine of the century' she told them.

'Genuine?' Buffy asked.

'The files look like it and Lorne gave Knox a clean bill of health on the honesty front if not the ethical one' Fred replied. 'I've been going through some of the technology blueprints and they are so far beyond state-of-the-art it's unbelievable. Fusions of technology and magic I would have never thought of.'

'He _killed_ you Fred' Gunn pointed out. 'We should pop a cap in his ass before he decides to maybe find another religion.'

'I concur' Wesley agreed leaning back in his chair crossing his arms. 'We have the files with or without Knox.'

'Thought you'd side with the Blue Meanie Padre' Spike responded smirking at Wesley. 'Crisis of faith from the clergyman?' he asked with a chuckle.

Wesley ignored him. 'I do agree with Illyria that it's Fred's call' he told them.

'He hasn't really done anything to me, not _me_ me anyhow' Fred replied. 'According to Illyria Knox only chose me because he thought I was the only one worthy to carry her' she said. 'In a really twisted way Knox thought he was _honouring_ me' Fred continued. 'He's really not a bad person, maybe a touch amoral, but compared to some of _us_?' she pointed out. 'I mean there's people roaming free in this hotel that make Knox look like Gandhi' she opined. 'He only did it for faith, not for fun' she noted. 'There's a quote I memorised from Steven Weinberg, he won the Nobel Prize for Physics' she explained for the benefit of people who didn't have her academic background, 'it goes like this "With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for _good_ people to do _evil_ things, _that_ takes religion".'

'Hey I'm willing to accept that Knox is a believer' Buffy responded, 'but Gunn made a point about what happens when he loses his faith and gets another religion, or none at all' she asked. 'Illyria isn't a God, not really, not what I think of as a God she's just stupidly powerful not omnipotent.'

'I'm with the Buffster' Xander declared. 'After spending some time with Blue he's going to realise she's not what he expected and then he could be trouble, she can't even throw lightning bolts.'

'The notion that a God is omnipotent is a fallacy, a monotheistic one really' Giles interjected. 'The pagan Gods weren't all-powerful, or maybe I should say _aren't _because many of them might really exist as Illyria and Glory do, they were merely _powerful_' he pointed out. 'They competed amongst themselves and were not above the same emotional or psychological flaws as mortals. Keep in mind that _our_ perspective is skewed because we deal with the supernatural every day. To the ordinary man on the street Illyria_ does_ have godlike powers, let's face it compared to the above-average _demon_ on the street she does' he continued.

Wesley sighed. 'Although I still think we should rid ourselves of Knox I must agree with Giles' he said. 'Knox worked for Wolfram Hart, everyone there fears the power of the Senior Partners and _they_ fear Illyria' he declared. 'If nothing else I think the fact that we've got a part-time blond goddess lurking around here as a slave should help stabilise the twerps' faith. I'll also suggest she shows him the time altering thing' he added.

'It's a show stopper all right' Xander observed. 'Slower downer anyway' he joked.

'Where's Lorne?' Buffy asked.

'Trying to get a choir together' Xander replied. 'Hey I'm serious' he said as everyone looked at him 'with this many Slayers he thinks he's bound to get a few that can carry a tune. He wants to try Gospel singing.'

Buffy grinned. 'Now that should be worth seeing' she said. 'I'm going to ask him to check Knox on a daily basis for signs he's not playing for our team' she said.

'I'll be in on that' Gunn said. If Lorne thought there was so much as a chance the guy might do something to Fred, or anyone else, he'd deal with him straight away.

'Oh there is one thing' Willow said. 'Knox had an argument with the Guardian' she told them. 'He says that he can make a much better scythe than her using modern metallurgical techniques, single crystal metal alloys and other stuff and she should just stick to casting enchantment spells. They aren't talking.'

Giles smiled. 'Well he's growing on me already' he said brightly. The enmity between the Guardian and the "Shadow Men" continued unabated. The sign she'd put on her door "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" or in translation "Who watches the watchers?" had clearly been designed to provoke them but he had to admit the note Wesley had pinned underneath in retaliation was a classic. It translated as "Who guarded the guardian?", Wesley having saved her from a horde of Bringers back in Sunnydale. Both sign and note had disappeared shortly afterwards.

'So next agenda item' Buffy said. 'How goes the financial situation?' she asked giving Anya the nod. She had spent the meeting so far reading over her notes.

Anya turned on the projector. 'On slide one we can see our currently projected income for the next quarter' she began pointing at the image projected on the wall with a laser pointer. 'As you can see our series of lottery wins has given us considerable capital with which to start investing in the market' she told them.

Half the table inwardly groaned the slide was marked "1 of 20" at the bottom.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – June 2003**

'Social call?' Buffy asked wryly.

Lilah stood there in her best power-suit and a pair of high-heels that made her tower over the slayer even more. She was tapping her foot in annoyance having been ordered to wait just inside the hotel for the best part of five minutes and she was fuming. 'You know what I'm here for' Lilah declared.

'Fashion advice? Inter-personal skills seminar?' Buffy asked. 'Embalming?' she added with a smirk.

'We know Knox came here' Lilah stated coldly.

'Oh right our new employee' Buffy responded. 'Didn't you get his letter of resignation?' she asked.

'Employee?' Lilah repeated.

'Illyria said something about we should start headhunting Wolfram and Hart and I think our Human Resources Department misunderstood what she meant' Buffy told her.

Lilah speared her with a glare. 'Very funny' she said. 'Now give it back.'

'Now you see the reason you might be losing staff is by calling them "it" instead of him' Buffy replied. 'It certainly wouldn't make for a happy workplace to my way of thinking.'

Lilah muttered something obscene under her breath. 'Not that little deserter I mean the files and documents he stole, those are the property of Wolfram Hart and we want them back' she declared.

Buffy looked at her for a while. 'We're sorry about that' she said eventually. 'I'll have them loaded into your limo outside straight away' she said accommodatingly.

'Along with any copies you made?' Lilah asked. 'That material is our intellectual as well as physical property.'

'Of course it is' Buffy agreed. 'And in the same manner that you allowed Sirk to return the books he stole from the council we are going to return _your_ material.'

Lilah crossed her arms. 'Meaning what exactly?'

Buffy grinned. 'Meaning we found a scanned copy of the Sibylline Codex in PDF format on the database.'

Lilah ground her teeth. 'Do you want us to bring legal action?' she threatened.

Buffy wiped the smile from her face. 'Do you want us to take _military_ action' she responded menacingly. 'Not that happy to find out about the fucking Death Star you aimed at us' she told the lawyer, 'but if you take the files, and a hike, right now and leave it be I won't be figuring out ways to kill _you_ by remote control.'

'Already dead sweetie' Lilah told her smugly.

'Still mobile enough for my purposes' Buffy responded. 'So how securely tightened is that head anyhow?' she asked. 'Could I twist it off like a bottle-cap or would I need an axe to take it off like Wesley used last time?'

That name made her flinch slightly Buffy noted. 'Is Wesley here?' Lilah asked suddenly less sure of herself.

'Planning to apologise for trying to cook him or ask for a reconciliation?' Buffy asked, 'because I think the former will make the latter kinda awkward don't you?'

'You will not see Wesley' an imperious voice declared from across the Lobby. Illyria had been merely observing but now felt the need to intervene.

Lilah looked at her, she looked exactly like Fred except her hair was blue, she was even dressed in one of the summer dresses the woman favoured. 'Well I guess he got what he really wanted after all' Lilah said. 'You know he used to like it when_ I_ dressed up like the Texas Twig too you know' Lilah told Illyria smugly. 'Except, you know, but with a figure' she added.

Illyria walked up to Lilah and in a flash grabbed her by the throat. 'Your cowardly attempt to assassinate me would be reason enough to kill you ten times over, if the Wolf, Ram and Hart would resurrect you so many times, but the fact that you would attempt to kill my Wesley will ensure your final death will be agonisingly slow and painful' she said.

'Heads on tighter than I thought' Buffy observed, 'it didn't pop off.'

'I haven't squeezed _yet_' Illyria replied. 'Your eyes are full of fear' she told Lilah changing her own from human blue, Freds own eyes were brown, to the glacial crystalline blue she usually only wore with her armour. 'You can see them reflected in mine' she continued. 'It would be wise not to forget your fear of me. You will live longer, if only as an animated corpse.'

What I'd give to be able to deliver threats like that, Buffy thought 'Please don't mess up the floor, Lawyer stains terribly' she told Illyria who released her grip on Lilah's throat after giving it a gentle squeeze to close her windpipe for a second.

'Having trouble boss?' a younger, though equally well dressed woman asked Lilah entering the hotel.

'No trouble Eve, they're giving the files back' Lilah replied rubbing her neck.

Illyria ignored the newcomer as if she was merely a lackey and unknown to her. 'Next time we meet I will cause you real injury' she told Lilah then turned and walked away. She would have Connor track the girl now she was around, eventually she would lead him to Lindsey and then she could go get him.

Buffy watched the God-King go. 'You know if I was going to go around trying to kill someone like that I'd make damn sure I succeeded because I've seen Illyria pissed off and the last time that happened she made a God her bitch' she advised Lilah helpfully. 'I'll have everything bought outside for you' she added. 'Have a nice day' she said with the very least sincerity she could put into her voice.

'This skirmishing with each other is going to end sometime' Lilah replied.

'Always ready to go to Defcon One' Buffy replied. 'Would you like to play a game?' she asked.

Listening in from the balcony above Andrew whispered to both Xander and the Slayers nearby 'Joshua from Wargames' he said. 'The only winning move is not to play' he said.

Xander nodded in agreement. 'Believe me when I say to you' he said. 'I hope the Demons love their Hellspawn too.'


	5. Chapter 5

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER FIVE**

**Tenement Building – Los Angeles – July 2003 **

'Why don't the elevators ever work?' Amanda complained trekking up the stairs to the top floor.

Faith sighed '_That's_ why they call it a slum' she replied evenly. The building really was a serious dump she thought. Half the lights were out, the walls were covered in graffiti, there was trash everywhere and it stank. All it needed was a poor excuse for a mother and she might start feeling homesick. The only thing that _was_ missing was the people but the locals had been thinned out pretty well by the ones they were heading up to see.

'We should have crossbows for this kind of deal' Rona said randomly.

Amanda caught on immediately. 'How many up there?' she asked with a grin.

'Eight or nine?' Rona replied.

'Including our guy?' Amanda asked.

Rona shrugged 'I'm not sure.'

'So there could be nine vampires up there?' Amanda asked.

'It's possible' Rona replied.

'We should have fucking crossbows' Amanda stated.

Faith stopped dead in her tracks and turned back to the two slayers following her. 'When we get back to the hotel I'm feeding that Pulp Fiction DVD you were watching last night into the trash compactor' she told them.

Rona and Amanda started to laugh but choked it down.

Faith turned and started walking back up the stairs, there was supposed to be an Orpheus Den up here and that meant she wanted two of the more experienced girls as backup. Vampires were bad enough, vampires out of their brains on quasi-mystical junk was something else entirely. You had to kill them outright you couldn't wear them down because they couldn't feel a damn thing.

As they continued to climb Amanda started talking again. 'I was talking to that French girl Dominique the other day and do you know what she said they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?' she asked trying to keep a straight face

Faith kept climbing and muttered something obscene. 'It's bad enough I'm coming here like some kind of a Supernatural DEA Agent or some shit, but not only am I a fucking Narc I've got you two as backup' she complained bitterly.

Chided, the duo of Slayers following Faith remained quiet until they reached the top of the stairs and found the right apartment. There was another smell in the air on this floor, the unmistakable sickly sweet aroma of decomposing flesh that made Faiths nose wrinkle. Some vampires lived like slobs and never took out the scraps until days after they'd fed.

'They say she was more fun when she was evil' Rona whispered quietly to Amanda as they pulled stakes and short-swords from their jackets.

Faith overheard them and for some reason felt really bad about it. One thing she really didn't like about this good guy, team player thing was having people around whose opinion in some way mattered to you. 'You ready?' she asked taking out the pistol grip riot shogun she'd borrowed from Wesley, it was a lot more compact than the larger SPAS-12's from the armoury and she could conceal it easier.

The two girls nodded and Faith kicked open the door bursting into the Orpheus Den with Rona and Amanda on either side. Inside it was a cliché of urban decay except for the sight of a nest of vampires feeding on human girls who had actually agreed to be used as a filter for the strange narcotic. After this Faith and the others would drag their druggie asses straight to the shelter that Anne chick ran and hope she could help them, you couldn't hand an Orpheus addict over to the normal authorities, they didn't know how to deal with them.

As Faith sized things up it was clear that every single one in there, both vampire and human, looked tranq'd out of their tiny minds.

Faith looked at them and a gentle smile formed on her face as an idea popped into her head. She took a deep breath, put on her most forceful and command voice and began to speak. 'And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers' she said racking the shotgun dramatically for effect. Yeah I am _so_ still fun, she thought happily to herself aiming the shotgun at the closest vampire. 'And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you' Faith declared biblically just as the vampires finally realised what was going on and prepared to attack.

The Slayer pulled the trigger and the mayhem began.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – July 2003**

'This looks… familiar' Robin Wood declared looking at the blueprints laid out over the table.

'It should' Xander replied, same architect and we thought why re-invent the wheel' he said. 'I mean, other than what was underneath it, it was a great school.'

'It was' Wood agreed with more than a touch of whimsy. The Principal's job had been originally intended as cover but he had actually enjoyed it. There was surprising job satisfaction in helping to steer young people to their potential even if in some cases the best they could achieve was a job at the Doublemeat Palace. 'So what are we going with name wise?' he asked.

'There was a school of thought, get it "school" of thought' Xander said grinning, 'that we should go with "Professor Xanders School for Gifted Youngsters" but Stan Lee would sue our asses off so we're going with Shadow Valley Academy. The only objection to that was from the Guardian who thought "Shadow" was a Watcher reference, we had to show her maps to prove it was just a coincidence.'

'Building on top of the First's Old Headquarters?' Wood asked. 'I know we worked out of there when we were still in Sunnydale but that was just temporary' he said.

Xander unrolled another blueprint showing the intended structure underneath the main building. 'We've already got all those tunnels and caverns underneath, all we need is to reinforce a few with concrete and pillars before we build on top and we can always dig out more if required' he said. 'We also own the land and by the end of the week we'll own most of the entire valley, having the town next door fall into a huge hole really crashed out property values in the region' he said grinning. 'It's not too far from LA but not too close either and Giles idea of moving everyone to England only appealed to the crowd that_ like_ getting cold and wet or miss the Mother Country.'

'I can't believe they want me in charge' Wood said. He had returned from a few weeks vacation back to New York to visit his mothers grave and clear his head only to return to be offered a new job.

'You're the son of a Slayer, you're good with weaponry, the girls respect you and when you get right down to it you're the only one that _has_ actually run a school before none of the rest of us have a clue.'

'I ran a High School not a Training Camp for Slayers' Wood pointed out.

'Hey the Buffster said she wanted them educated as well as weaponised and everyone agreed' Xander replied. 'It'll be like any other school except with a lot more gym class, martial arts lessons and being taught how to blow shit up' he said.

Wood smiled. 'And I get a bigger office right?' he asked.

'Oh yeah' Xander replied. 'And a very nice apartment in the top floor of the dormitory block next to the school' he told him. 'Great panoramic view of the Valley, we're keeping most of the vineyards, bringing in some people to run the place.'

'Going into the wine business too?' Wood asked.

'Useful to have a few financial interests to move money around through or so they tell me' Xander replied. 'Oh yeah have you met Knox yet?' he asked, Wood shook his head, 'Okay so I'll introduce you, he's going to be your Science guy we're putting in a Lab and some workshops for him underneath the school. He's sorta an Evil Genius but with a bit more nerd thrown in, well that and he's got religion.'

'What denomination?' Wood asked.

Xander grinned. 'Demon-ination would be closer to the mark' he joked. 'Knox is an "Illyrian Fundamentalist" I'd call him' Xander answered with a smile.

Wood looked surprised for a while then chuckled 'Oh I bet she loves that' he considered. Illyria had worked at his High School for a few weeks and despite the fact she could be surprisingly endearing for some reason you just couldn't grasp, her ego was even mightier than her sword, and her sword was a freaking girder.

'Not as much as you'd think' Xander responded. 'I think she was looking for something better in a sycophantic worshipper' he told him.

'Well there was no teacher led prayer when I ran a Public School and I won't have my Science Staff leading a class in a homily to the Smurf-God even if we are going to be a Private Academy' Wood declared tongue-in-cheek.

'Way to keep that Wall of Separation between Church and State' Xander said raising a fist in a comical salute.

'So what have they got you doing?' Wood asked.

'You mean after I get this dump renovated, build that place and probably construct the other offices Buffy want to put up in Cleveland?' Xander asked. 'I don't know retire maybe?'

'Don't want to teach shop then?' Wood asked.

'Teenage girls' Xander responded shaking his head. 'There's a limit to how much look but don't touch a man can take, I don't know how you handle it' he joked. 'Seriously though I was going to see Giles about the Watcher business, I'm the one that sees everything already so it makes sense' he said. 'There's so few of them left I might not even need references.'

'I just can't see you in tweed' Wood told him.

'I never said I was going for Watcher of the Year did I?' Xander replied realising that his normal wardrobe would definitely keep him out of the running for that auspicious title. Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks 'Why the hell didn't I think of this before?' he said astonished by his own stupidity.

'What?' Wood asked.

Xander turned to him. 'Okay now get this' he began. 'Miss Slayer 2003' he said. 'Swimwear competition, Talent contests with like juggling swords and shooting apples off heads with crossbows, swimwear competition…'

'You said swimwear competition twice' Wood pointed out.

'And if you hadn't interrupted me I was going for at least five times' Xander replied. 'Forget the lottery tickets and the share dealing' he said. 'Think of the TV rights, the event tickets...' he told him. 'Think of the _calendar sales_' he implored.

Wood scratched his chin. You had to admit it, he thought, the carpenter was definitely onto something here.

On the other hand the boys days were numbered if he ever suggested it to Buffy Wood decided with a sad shake of his head.

**Park – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Angel looked at his watch. He had a message from Illyria to meet her here at this time but so far she was a no show. Normally she was a very good timekeeper so Angel assumed Illyria had a good reason to be late, probably beating the hell out of some poor unsuspecting mob of demons somewhere he thought.

It was a nice night at least Angel thought leaning back on the bench to look at the stars. His convertible was parked up nearby and his cellphone was in the glovebox so if she didn't turn up in the next ten minutes he'd give her a call, until then he was happy to wait. It was nice to be alone, the Hotel was always so damn noisy now, and he never got the chance to relax.

'Aw Crap' Angel said suddenly and jumped from the bench into the park running for all his worth. All I wanted was ten minutes, he thought, ten minutes of quiet contemplation but no such luck. Destiny always had to pop up and bite him on the ass he reflected. If he ever got to meet the Powers-That-Be directly he was going to have some stern words and maybe some harsh blows with them.

The girl screamed as the monster pounced slashing her with its claws before gnawing her neck. It was about to rip her open when Angel threw it off her the werewolf landing on its feet and ready to fight.

Angel remembered the small pen in his pocket, Illyria had surprised everyone last week by having them made and engraved and giving one to everyone that had fought in Sunnydale, the lids were metallic blue, well of course, but the rest was Sterling Silver with the owners initials and Sunnydale 2003 engraved on them. The God-King had apologised for her temperament recently and wanted to make amends she said giving them out. They were good pens too, well worth carrying and Angel liked a fountain pen to write with, proper ink was so much better for his handwriting style than a damn ballpoint.

Angel pulled out the pen and unscrewed the lid quickly, at least she hadn't decided on Gold or Platinum he thought with relief. 'Come on furball' he said brandishing the sharp silver as a weapon.

The werewolf leaped at him and got the pen straight in the jugular, Angel driving it in as hard and far as he could. The creatures blood splattered him as he pulled the pen back out and then slammed it into its chest, straight into the heart.

The werewolf hit the ground dead and transformed into a man almost instantly. Angel would have felt some remorse but a werewolf had a choice to restrain itself come full moon and if it didn't and gave into its instincts to hunt and kill it was in no position to complain if someone decided to apply some silver to the situation.

The sound of a car starting span Angel around, the girl had run off and was now trying to get away. 'No wait' he called after her futilely, she'd been bitten she was infected.

A blue streak across the park flashed across Angels line of sight and the girl suddenly wasn't going anywhere, fast or otherwise.

The girl felt the back of her car raise just as she hit the gas pedal, the engine was going full throttle, the wheels were spinning but she certainly wasn't moving. She looked in the mirror and saw that a thin blue woman was holding up the back of her car with surprisingly little apparent effort especially considering she was only using one hand.

Between the sheer madness and the blood loss it was all too much, she fainted across the steering wheel.

'Halfbreed' Illyria called out loudly. 'I need you to turn off the engine' she said. 'If I put the car down it will go that way very fast' she said pointing with her free hand, 'and I think the girl is unconscious and could not apply the brakes before hitting that tree' she continued. The woman must still be putting weight on the gas pedal she thought as the wheels continued to spin and she was being enveloped by a cloud of foul smelling, and to humans quite toxic, exhaust fumes.

Angel ran over opened the door and turned off the engine. 'Where the hell were you?' he asked Illyria.

'I was trying to avoid Knox and had to find another way out of the Hyperion' Illyria explained as she lowered the car. 'He is becoming very annoying' she told him. 'It was take another route or knock him unconscious and I'm trying to avoid causing him possible head trauma, his knowledge is his only redeeming feature.'

That made sense Angel considered as he put on the parking brake. Knox hung around Illyria like a puppy sometimes, it drove Wesley up the wall, he'd complained about it bitterly. 'Good thing _one_ of us was here' he said 'Or the girl would be puppy chow.'

'As I arrived I saw you from a distance engage the werewolf, what did you use to dispatch it?' Illyria asked curiously.

'That pen you gave me' Angel replied. 'It was the only silver I was carrying.'

'You did not damage it did you?' Illyria asked in annoyance. 'I spent much time choosing those' she said in an aggrieved tone. She had as a matter of fact although her original motivation in getting them was of course so Angel didn't think him having one was more than a coincidence when this situation occured. He wouldn't like being maniplulated even if it was for his own good.

'If it's bent I'll have it repaired' Angel placated her. Why couldn't they have a less easily offended God he wondered idly.

Illyria crossed her arms. 'See that you do' she said in a commanding tone. 'I assume the werewolf injured the girl?' she asked.

Angel looked her over, she was a pretty thing despite the injuries, 'wounds look bad but she was bitten which means she'll heal fast' he replied. 'Of course it also means she'll turn come the next full moon.'

'Should we not kill her?' Illyria asked cocking her head. 'She will be a danger to others.'

'No need for that' Angel replied. 'I've got a friend who's a werewolf and he's fine' he replied. 'All we need to do is help her. Stop her hurting other people' he explained. 'She'll just need containing so she's not a threat to others.'

'There is a cage at the Hyperion' Illyria noted.

'Yes I remember it well' Angel replied with a wry smile. 'If it could keep Angelus inside it could certainly keep a werewolf safely incarcerated for a few hours' he said. 'She'll need a friend too' he added. Her psychological trauma would dwarf the physical especially since, as was likely, she was just a normal person until now with no knowledge of the paranormal. It was one hell of an introduction to the _real _real world.

Illyria made her way over to him. 'You can help her' she declared. 'You have experience in controlling a dark side and she will likely be grateful and willing to accept your guidance after you saved her life.'

'It's the right thing to do' Angel agreed. 'I'll carry her to the car and we can take her back to the Hotel' he said.

Illyria watched the Vampire gently and carefully pick up the girl. He'd be really annoyed if he ever found out she had set him up for this but the werewolf Nina had proven to be a perfectly adequate mate for him in the original timeline and despite her better judgement Illyria did have a certain fondness for the vampire. He deserved some of the happiness she got from being with Wesley in his own life she considered. 'I will retrieve the pen' she told him.

'Why did you ask me to come out here anyway?' Angel called to Illyria as he carried the young blond woman to his own car.

'I was going to talk to you about Wesley' Illyria lied. 'You have a perspective on him that I lack, I have the shells memories but you knew him longer than Fred and I think her gender precludes a proper understanding of him in any case' she continued. 'I also find it relaxing to be in the park so it would help me properly express myself.'

Angel thought that sounded reasonable. Her claustrophobia was still an issue as was her relationship with Wesley, doing your duty to your friends was what made you worthwhile he considered, if he could help them he would. 'We'll talk another night' he told her.

'Good' Illyria replied. This had gone exactly as planned she thought happily. She could of course have just saved Nina from ever being a werewolf completely but she never claimed to be a good guy after all, nor evil really, as God-King of the Primordium she was above such petty distinctions.

The Shaper of Things had not previously thought of herself as a matchmaker too but a healthy love-life did seem to bring definite performance benefits from humans and there were plenty of possible candidates for couples amongst the group. She would have to expand her efforts in this direction she reasoned.

Illyria started to scheme, smiling to herself as she retrieved the silver pen from the chest of the corpse and contemplated playing Cupid, only with something more impressive than those feeble arrows.

**Wolfram and Hart Building – Los Angeles – July 2003**

'Too many all-nighters' Lilah noted sadly looking at her reflection in the rest room mirror. She just looked washed out.

'But for a dead woman you're in surprisingly good condition' a voice declared as a toilet flushed in a nearby cubicle.

Lilah mouthed a swearword at her reflection. She knew she should have taken the effort to head up to her own private facilities she thought as she watched Eve emerge and head for the row of sinks to clean her hands. 'Don't you _ever_ go home?' Lilah asked the liaison as she touched up some of her makeup.

'Like all loyal employees during this time of crisis I'm putting in the unpaid overtime' Eve replied with a disgustingly bright smile. She was so young, chipper and upbeat it was impossible not to hate her Lilah considered. 'I hear the legal department had two suicides yesterday because of stress' she said.

'Idle rumour' Lilah replied. 'The boys down at Ritual Sacrifice just picked two at random and offered them up to placate some demon or other' she told Eve. 'The goats just weren't cutting it anymore.'

'Yes the underworld is getting a touch demanding isn't it?' she asked rhetorically. 'So many of our operations being curtailed, so many profit sharing enterprises being wound up, so many clients getting staked, decapitated or burned alive.'

'My company shares are really starting to lose ground on the interdimensional market' Lilah said sadly. 'I heard from one of the old hands in Non-Human Resources it's the worst he's seen things since the Renaissance started.'

Eve sympathised. 'The Senior Partners don't hold you _completely_ responsible' she told her in a manner that was hardly reassuring. 'You're fortunate that they think so highly, or do I mean poorly, of Illyria' she told her moving to dry her hands as Lilah finished with her makeup. 'Having Knox turn out to be one of her acolytes is starting to foster the opinion that the bitch is playing games with us' she told her.

'Oh she is but the Senior Partners are mistaken if they think Illyria is running things' Lilah replied following Eve out of the restroom after applying a little perfume. 'They're not under any kind of unified leadership, Buffy is the closest thing to a head honcho, though I doubt Angel likes her bossing things on his turf and his people look to him for leadership not her' she theorised. 'Illyria is as much their loose cannon as ours' she continued. 'If we escalate things, or even if we try another quick-fix like with the satellite fiasco they'll start listening to what she has to say and better to get blasted occasionally by a loose cannon than have a full broadside put into us.'

'So you think we should just hope they go their separate ways, play a game of divide and conquer' Eve asked.

'It's that or unite them and be conquered' Lilah replied. 'Of course we'll still be throwing the occasional obstacle into their path just to keep them guessing. If we shut down operations completely they'd know we were playing them.'

'I did see you'd cancelled the interdiction mission to the valley' Eve replied, 'is that one of your "obstacles"?' she asked.

Lilah chuckled. 'Why risk our people when we can get our enemies enemy to deal with the problem?' she asked. 'Besides they've had it easy in LA so far, let's see how they handle something more taxing.'

Eve nodded, normally the company would keep such major incursions into this realm under wraps, if there was going to be anything _remotely_ apocalypse-like that wasn't part of their own plans Wolfram and Hart would keep a lid on it but like Lilah said why not let the white-hats do the grunt work? 'I read the seers reports' Eve told her as they started to head in different directions, 'at least it might bring the rising property prices to a more reasonable level.'

Lilah laughed, they _were_ getting out of control in the San Fernando Valley, even in a relatively less well-off area like Reseda, oh well if the much vaunted razor-toothed, six eyed Beast of Amalfi couldn't knock a few thousand off the land values then it wasn't the mighty demon of prophecy.


	6. Chapter 6

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER SIX**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – July 2003**

The young woman woke with a start, her sudden movement not only attracted the attention of the two men she could see standing nearby talking quietly but it made her cry out in pain.

'She's awake' the smaller of the two noted moving towards her.

'Nice to see that you learned something at medical school' the other remarked with more than a hint of sarcasm.

'Who are you?' she asked looking around the pain in her shoulder subsiding, it was bandaged as was her neck the material limiting her movement. She seemed to be in a hospital, or at least there were most of the trappings of a hospital with monitors and drip stands and a green oxygen tank next to her bed but otherwise it looked more like a hotel, maybe it was a private room, she hoped not, she couldn't afford it.

'My name's Ben and I'm a Doctor' the closest one told her and checked her pupil response with a small pen flashlight. 'You were attacked by an animal' he told her. 'Your injuries aren't too severe but if you like I can give you a shot for the pain' he told her. 'Nothing too strong though, you haven't earned the good stuff' he told her with a reassuring smile. 'You're Nina right?'

She nodded. 'How did you know?' she asked.

'We checked your ID' the other man told her.

Oh right, Nina thought, that made sense probably wanted to get hold of the next of kin to sign papers or something, she hoped they hadn't worried her sister. 'Are you a doctor too?' she asked, he certainly wasn't dressed like one unless they were really into black that is.

'No I'm not a Doctor' the man replied, 'my name's Angel we met briefly in the park' he told her.

Something clicked in Nina's head. 'You're the one that saved me from that... whatever it was' she said.

Angel shrugged. 'I heard you scream, ran to help' he told her as if it was just all part of a days work.

Nina reappraised him, so she'd been saved by a handsome hero who'd taken her to hospital. She didn't normally think of herself as the damsel in distress type but she could take the fairytale scenario over being ripped to shreds any day. 'I suppose I should say thanks' she told him. 'So thanks' she said throwing him a smile. 'You can leave off with the shot' she told the Doctor, 'it doesn't hurt too bad now' she said.

Angel inwardly frowned, she must be turning fast. 'Just let us know if you change your mind' Ben told her before turning to Angel. 'I'll leave you to it then' he said. 'Nice to meet you Nina' he said, welcome to your new fucked-up existence he thought to himself as he left the room.

Nina watched Ben leave and shut the door behind him. 'What hospital are we in?' she asked. 'My sister's a nurse she might know some of the people here, did they call her?' she asked.

Angel pulled up a chair and sat down. 'You're not in a hospital' he told her. 'You're in the Hyperion Hotel, we use this room as a makeshift clinic Ben is our… Staff Physician' he explained, it sounded better than slave or indentured servant, certainly less illegal.

'I'm in a hotel?' Nina asked, looked like her initial guess had been right. 'Why am I in a hotel?' she asked in confusion.

'I thought it was better to take you here than a normal hospital' Angel told her. 'We're pretty well equipped for medical problems, and we're a _lot_ better equipped to help you with your other one.'

'My _other_ one?' Nina asked suspiciously.

Angel scratched his chin. 'I could beat about the bush for a while but it wouldn't soften the blow and you're not going to believe me anyway so here goes' he began. 'You remember the animal that attacked you.'

'It left a mark' Nina replied with humour.

Angel smiled briefly then returned his expression to a serious one. 'I want you to picture it clearly in your mind, think about what it looked like' he told her, 'are you doing that?' he asked.

'Sure' Nina asked wondering where this was going.

'The creature that chased and attacked you in the park was a werewolf' Angel told her with all the sincerity he could muster. 'And because it bit you you're a werewolf now too' he continued. 'I could sugar-coat it but those are the facts.'

Nina blinked and then looked at him suspiciously, very good looking and apparently even more insane. 'And I'll be leaving now' she told him forcefully.

'That could be a problem' Angel replied apologetically then he turned towards the door. 'Willow if you're out there could you have a word?' he asked loudly.

The door opened and a young red haired woman in her early twenties entered smiling at both Nina and Angel. 'Hi' she said to Nina 'I'm Willow and I know that you're going to have a lot of questions, and that you won't believe any of the answers until tonight' she continued, 'but don't worry you're in the right place and everything is going to be fine' she told her confidently. 'My ex-boyfriend was a werewolf and as long as you make a few simple changes like avoiding silver jewellery and locking yourself up a few nights a month you'll find it's not nearly as bad as they make out in the films' she told her in an altogether far too up-beat manner.

Nina looked from one to the other. 'Are you like some kind of weird cult?' she asked nervously. It was at times like these she _hated_ living in LA.

**Bank Lobby – Los Angeles – July 2003**

'It goes against the grain to break into a bank and not steal anything' Faith joked pocketing a pen. 'Is this going to take long because I don't know how long it'll take for that guy to wake up?' she asked indicating the comatose body of the security guard that Buffy was trying to prop up against the wall. Spike was just wandering about after his quick trip into the vault to check if it was worth persuading Illyria to kick the door off.

'You know we bought the tranquilliser gun for a reason right?' Buffy asked in annoyance as the unconscious guard slid sidewise again and she gave up her efforts to make him more comfortable.

Faith shrugged. 'It was easier just to slug him' she replied. 'So how long?' she asked again.

Knox ignored her again and kept working, the bones were arranged correctly and now all he needed to do was complete the ritual with a few choice phrases he'd written out phonetically because his Sumerian was, in his own words, kinda rusty, which is to say non-existent.

Willow sighed and crossed her arms, she hated watching amateurs at work. If Knox hadn't been so damn stubborn, and had just explained the spellbreaking ritual to her like she asked, they could have been done by now. For that matter Wesley stood next to Knox observing placidly could have done a better job too but he was trying to stay clear of anything magical for now. He had got a bit too close to the abyss back in Sunnydale and he didn't like what he found there, which is to say he found he liked it too much for comfort. Willow could sympathise although her own powers dwarfed those of the dabbling watcher.

'So Wolfram and Hart put on a mystical deadbolt then?' Angel asked leaning against a pillar. He wasn't happy at leaving Nina unattended though what he could do except watch her change into a werewolf for the first time he didn't know. She had taken a _lot_ of convincing that what she thought was make-believe actually wasn't, at one point he was worried they would have to stick her in the cage forcibly to stop her going home and endangering her family, but after enough people told her the same thing, and after Willow did some magic, Spike walked through a wall and he himself vamped out in front of her, the latter resulting in an ear-splitting scream, they eventually got the message across that the supernatural was very real indeed. It had been thought better not to tell her yet that Ben was a part-time HellGoddess and the Blue Chick she remembered vaguely from the previous night was leaning towards the God end of the power spectrum too. Some things were just too hard to take until you had got used to the small stuff like vampires, with or without souls, and the fact you'd never think of shaving your legs the same way again. 'You really must have made an impression on them back in the day' Angel told the God-King.

Illyria nodded. 'They likely always feared my possible return and sought to prevent me raising my army once I did' she replied. 'They would know I would crush them as my first act.'

'You mentioned an army?' Buffy asked suspiciously. She didn't want to find herself knee deep in demonic stormtroopers waving blue banners regardless of where Illyria might be planning to lead them.

'It no longer exists, it has been too long since my banishment' Illyria replied. 'I was… distraught to discover this in the original timeline' she admitted. 'It was distressing in the extreme to learn that I was no longer in any position to re-conquer this world and rebuild my Empire once again.'

Faith looked at her. 'I wish I could sympathise but it's just not going to happen' she told her. 'You know if she_ had_ found her army we'd have led the Slayers against her' she remarked to Buffy.

'I would have crushed you like ants' Illyria declared.

'Hence the lack of sympathy' Faith replied reasonably.

'And we're done' Knox said happily as the arrangement of bones that he had jokingly called his "skeleton key" vanished. Wolfram and Hart had not planned on one of their own people breaking the seal and it was not effective against their own methods.

'Follow me closely' Illyria told the small group. 'The portal will not stay open long after I go through' she continued.

The God-King raised her hand as they gathered behind her and with a wave space and time distorted before her as she opened a portal which she stepped through pursued quickly by the others.

**Vahla ha'nesh – Location Inexplicable – Date Irrelevant **

'I don't think we're in LA anymore Toto' Faith quipped as she found herself in a dark chamber made of cut stone with steps leading up towards the light.

Illyria reached out and touched the wall. 'My Temple' she said with a hint of melancholy as she began to make her way up the steps everyone following.

'It's glorious' Knox declared in awe.

'No but it once was' Illyria replied as she reached the top of the steps and found herself once again before her broken statue.

Angel looked around, the scale was magnificent, square columns that once supported great arches reached high into the sky but they were ruins now, wondrous only because they offered a vision of what had been, not what was. He turned to Illyria, 'And you had the gall to complain about how dilapidated the Hyperion was?'

Illyria scowled. 'If your Hotel had been constructed on the edge of Pangaea and had been untended and forgotten since the Triassic do you believe it would look _remotely _this good' she asked indignantly.

'How big is this dump?' Faith asked looking around.

'Three times the area of the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome' Illyria replied. 'I was somewhat unimpressed by the Vatican when I visited' she continued smugly.

'You visited the Vatican?' Buffy asked in slight surprise.

'It was your idea not mine' Illyria replied. 'You were living in Rome at the time and decided to show me the sights' she continued. 'I preferred the Coliseum' she noted.

'What's with all the dust?' Willow asked taking a handful and letting some run through her fingers. There was something strange about it that she could sense but not really work out. For that matter the entire place had a strange dislocated vibe which had set what Xander would call her spidey sense tingling.

'Like those between the columns it is the remains of my army that was held in stasis here for my return' Illyria replied.

Willow grimaced and wiped her hand clean on her skirt. 'I'm not going to catch something from that am I' she asked.

'No more than you could from a fossil in one of your museums' Illyria told her. 'Though when it was live and whole it would have eaten you or offered me your organs as a snack' she added.

'So you put your army on ice but when you needed it the troops were a few years past their prime' Spike remarked. 'You should have checked the expiry date on the label' he told her. 'Open only in the event of war. Best Before January 3rd 65 Million BC.'

'Do not mock me halfbreed' Illyria snapped back. 'Or when you are once again made corporeal I will make you wish you weren't' she vowed.

'Well I can't say it's how I would have decorated the place' Buffy told the God-King but it's definitely you' she said, 'though I _was_ expecting a pyramid of skulls.'

'East Wing next to the sacrificial altar' Illyria replied pointing off into the distance.

Buffy laughed then stopped. 'She _was_ joking wasn't she?' she asked Wesley. 'It was easier when I didn't think she had a sense of humour' she continued, 'now I don't know if she means half the stuff she says or not.'

'I find it easier not to think about it' Wesley told her honestly.

'Okay so it's a damn impressive crib' Faith declared. 'But I hope you didn't drag us here just to show us where you're thinking of putting in a rec room' she asked Illyria sarcastically.

Knox glared at Faith for her impudence, Faith just smirked back at him if he wanted to lose some teeth he was welcome to try and back up the look with some action.

'Vahla ha'nesh is my Temple' Illyria told them. 'It is cut off from time and space in a fold I created, none can enter I do not wish too and none can leave I do not wish to, though the Wolf, Ram and Hart could force a portal beyond the Hellmouth Seal even _they_ cannot invade this place or they would have destroyed it utterly aeons ago' she declared imperiously.

'It's a fortress' Angel said looking around again after realising the implications. 'It's an impenetrable fortress.'

'And a prison' Illyria said with a smile. 'You can't break _out_ of Vahla ha'nesh either.'

'You're going to throw Glory in here' Buffy said grinning. 'Better chuck in a TV and a DVD Player for Ben because he'll be pissed.'

'I will provide items to make it bearable along with some cleaning equipment' Illyria told her. 'It needs dusting very badly.'

Wesley picked up a small piece of the broken statue of Illyria's original form. 'Pity about where it opens to' he said polishing the stone on his sleeve. 'Having to break into a bank every time we want to get in and out will be tedious.'

Illyria snorted. 'I did not invite the witch because of her strange hair colour' she stated.

Willow unconsciously reached up to touch her red hair and then looked at Illyria's own locks, who the hell was _she_ to be making remarks about hair colour anyway? 'What are you talking about?' she asked.

'You can feel this place, sense its dimensions beyond those the others can perceive?' Illyria asked.

'Well yes' Willow admitted.

'You are also more linked to your own world than I' Illyria told her. 'The portal that acts as a gateway to this place is not permanently fixed at the other end, it can be moved, I just need an aiming point in your realm. I cannot move the entrance too far from where it is now, a matter of a few miles at best, but that will be sufficient.'

Willow caught on. 'You want me to open a portal from our world which you can link to this one.'

'I only need an aiming point' Illyria told her. 'Once you open a portal I can hijack it and redirect it here. Once that is done I can anchor both ends so that the entry point to the Temple comes from there instead of the bank.'

'The Hyperion?' Angel guessed.

'Think of it as getting a massive extension put on the building' Illyria replied. 'Again only I will be able to open and close the gateway here but this is _my_ domain, _my_ creation, and it does not tax my powers to do so. This place is tuned to me' she said sweeping her arms around.

Wesley looked along the lines of pillars. 'I was wondering where we were going to be able to test fire some of the new weaponry' he said. 'At least we don't have to worry about the law. We could store the more illegal items right here. A search warrant just wouldn't cut it' he joked.

'I will help restore your Temple highness' Knox told Illyria. 'In the meantime I think that installing a generator would be a good move' he said figuring out where he could run cables.

Faith appraised the temple with new eyes. 'You know we could hold a bitchin rave in here' she declared.

'No you couldn't' Illyria told her with finality.

Spike stuck his head through a wall, there were antechambers dotted around the complex and a network of passages connected them, all were now silent as the grave, more silent in fact, no worms, but they would be useful he thought. 'Who built this place anyway?' he asked.

'Subjugated tribes' Illyria replied. 'Slaves' she continued. 'Demons not humans' she pointed out given the expressions being directed her way by everyone except Knox who did not think to judge his God. 'If they worked hard and survived ten years in the quarries I gave them a place in my armies as a reward' she told them.

'Very progressive of you' Angel commented wryly.

'It lowered the suicide rate amongst the workforce' Illyria told him matter-of-factly, 'people need hope, a reason to go on with their existence though they may find it horrible at the time.'

'You gave them hope by giving them the opportunity to go and die fighting to enslave some other poor schmucks for you?' Willow asked. 'You know you really are fighting for the wrong side' she told her flatly.

'She's mean and she's kinda evil but she's ours' Faith interjected. 'Now about this out of hand rejection of the rave idea…' she began, putting an arm around Illyria's shoulders.

Angel turned to Wesley. 'Well at least you can tell your father you're marrying into property' he told him. 'An Englishman's home is his interdimensional temple fortress after all.'

'Yeah so you got her a ring yet?' Spike asked tongue-in-cheek. 'One to rule them all like?' he added with a grin.

'Somehow I think my father would disapprove of Illyria to the extent of splintering several good stakes and shattering the family sword collection on her if they ever met' Wesley replied to Angel, pointedly ignoring Spike. 'And then of course she'd pull out his intestines and feed them to him.'

'I can see how that would make family get-togethers an unwelcome prospect' Angel reasoned.

Wesley nodded in agreement; he really liked some of those swords.

**Reseda – Los Angeles – July 2003**

The Skilosh Clans began to gather and prepare. Soon Amalfi would rise and they would offer their service to him in a holy crusade against the two-eyed freaks that dominated this world.

The coming of the Beast was foretold long ago not only in the Nyazian prophecies but had been passed down for millennia in the oral tradition of the Skilosh. The legends said that the land itself would scream and tremble as Amalfi neared, that the arteries of the Angels would be slashed, and that within ten years of its pain he would rise again.

And to think people in LA thought the Northridge Earthquake of 1994, the most expensive in US History, its epicentre _directly_ under Reseda, was bad enough because so many of the freeways collapsed. You've just got to get a different perspective on these things, a bit like the Skilosh in fact, they _always_ looked at the world differently, it was the third eye in the back of the head that did it.

Amalfi began to stir.


	7. Chapter 7

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Dawn leaned back in the chair and put her feet up on the office desk. 'Could somebody maybe fetch me a cup of coffee and a Danish?' she asked loudly flicking to the next page in the file.

'Somebody break your legs?' Kennedy retorted from where she was at the reception desk.

'No' Dawn replied scanning the text.

'Would you like them to because Angel might if he finds you in here with your feet on his desk' Gunn warned her looking into the office for a second before continuing on his way carrying a box of tools.

Dawn considered the warning, her sister could take him she decided and she made no effort to remove them.

The file was actually made up of photocopied pages from the Devandiré Sybilline Codex that the traitor Sirk had returned before making himself scarce, Dawn would never be allowed to handle the original, centuries old volume, but Giles had carefully copied it and she was now trying to brush up on her Sanskrit. She could have chosen something less demanding than the archaic form used in the Codex but where was the fun in that?

Actually now she came to think of it where _was_ the fun in any of this?

Dawn closed the file and looked up at the ceiling. She was just a small cog in a great evil fighting machine she realised. It had all sneaked up on her so gradually she hadn't noticed but everything was routines and jobs now, hers was playing junior researcher girl with a sideline in annoying watchers although the latter was more of a hobby than anything else. The Slayers themselves ran like clockwork, they trained according to a rolling schedule and patrolled the city based on a grid like they had in Sunnydale while meanwhile the rest of the organisation collated reports, looked after finances and researched. It was just like a corporation, only with a bottom line of how many demons they slew this financial quarter instead of profits.

Maybe they _were_ a corporation, Dawn considered, they might not have shareholders but certainly everyone did have a "stake" in the business she thought with a grin making sure to keep that line for later use. Slayers and Watchers Incorporated, offices in Los Angeles, London and with a branch office coming soon to Cleveland as soon as Buffy decided who she was going to base there, the safe bet was Kennedy what with Faith being assigned LA and Buffy herself intending to move between bases.

Dawn wondered what she was going to do long-term. It would be hard to get used to a normal life, the boredom would kill her, so she figured she'd stay in the family business as it were, but after college, there was no _way_ that Buffy was going to let her skip college, what would she do? There were certainly plenty of vacancies for watchers and she had long practised wheedling her way around Giles so maybe that was where she could aim? Of course the damn "key" thing would always be an issue especially now Illyria had demonstrated that she still had plenty of lock-opening potential.

Or maybe my destiny is just to be periodically siphoned so a megalomaniacal blue tinged demon woman can open portals to handy places Dawn wondered sadly. Normal people give blood to help people too but usually it's not because it's like the mother of all sports energy drinks to ancient God-Kings she considered. Forget Gatorade she thought, 'If you really want instant refreshment drink Dawnade now in tasty O Negative flavour' she said quietly, then hummed an upbeat jingle she thought would go well with the advertisements.

On the other hand when you thought about it there were probably _hundreds_ of Slayers in the world now but there was only one Illyria-boosting universal-portal-key in the whole universe Dawn realised then grinned, Buffy wasn't the special one, _she_ was. It was kinda an icky destiny but it was something.

'_Da-da do do do_ DAWNADE!' she shouted out and started giggling.

'Pretending to be nuts because you're suffering from chronic sugar and caffeine withdrawal isn't going to get you that coffee and Danish' Kennedy said loudly.

Dawn snorted, damn Slayers, dime a dozen she thought starting to read again.

**Tarzana – Los Angeles – July 2003**

'That should have gone a lot better' Shannon opined pulling her short sword out of the demons chest. It was still barely alive, coughing up blood weakly as its lungs filled with blood but it wouldn't last much longer. It was already way past being any kind of threat anyway.

'We're alive aren't we?' Natasha retorted wiping her own sword clean with a rag from her pocket. Her thick Liverpool accent sometimes confused people, Americans often asked what country she was from, but after some initial problems Shannon had got used to it, well except for the incomprehensible British slang. She considered throwing the rag away but the grounds of the Country Club they were in were so damn tidy that messing them up any more than they had would have felt wrong so she stuffed it back in her pocket. At least it was night time so they didn't have to put up with middle-aged men complaining that the demon corpses were interfering with their putting she considered.

'I thought we had them cold' Jacqueline, the third Slayer on their team said shaking her head. She was Canadian with a Quebecois accent that was actually a lot easier to follow than Natasha's for the most part. They had found the small group of demons trying to hide in some of the thicker wooded areas at the edge of the golf course and had tried to sneak up on them for an easy kill but it hadn't turned out that way and they ended up in a nice messy bout of Slayer/Demon action, the kind that ends up with oddly coloured blood spread over a wide area.

'Well they're going cold now' Shannon replied with a grin.

'Right so who wants to tell me what they are?' Stephen asked loudly walking towards them arms behind his back being careful to avoid walking across the putting green.

'Where were you?' Natasha asked.

'Over there watching' Stephen said pointing to a tree he'd been leaning against during the fight. 'It's basically the job description' he pointed out reasonably, or so he thought.

'Didn't think to help?' Shannon asked him with slight annoyance. 'Get the old sword a bit dirty?'

The young watcher shook his head. 'If you needed my help I would have but they only outnumbered you two-to-one so I didn't see the pressing need' he replied. '_You're_ the ones with the superpowers right?' he continued with a wry smile. 'So as I asked before who wants to tell me what they are?'

'Your regular ugly demon with an extra eye in the back of the head' Jacqueline replied kicking the closest one over onto its front so the third eye looked up into the sky, dead and unseeing as the other two. 'No fair with the seeing behind them, I only noticed when they'd already spotted me sneaking up on them.'

Stephen sighed. 'Okay so any advance on "regular ugly demon"?' he asked the other two Natasha shaking her head and Shannon doing likewise. 'They're Skilosh' he told them eventually, 'and you all need to reread the chapters on demon identification in the handbook. This should have been easy because there's only two other species of three-eyed demons and you couldn't mistake them for a Skilosh' he noted.

'How so?' Shannon asked.

'Wrong number of limbs for a start' Stephen replied with a chuckle. 'Nasty buggers Skilosh' he continued seriously, rolling the demon back over with his foot and crouching next to it, 'they reproduce by stabbing their tongue here into the back of a host creatures head' he told them reaching into the demons mouth and pulling its tongue out to show them, 'that implants a Skilosh larvae which grows inside you until… well you can figure it out' he told them. 'You get a third eye yourself for a while, and a really bad headache I would imagine' he added releasing the things tongue and standing up. 'They _were_ considered rare but more have been cropping up in recent years so they were included in the latest revision of the Slayer Handbook as a likely possible adversary.'

'I can't believe you reached into its mouth and did that' Natasha told him as he wiped his hand on his jeans.

'It was well past the biting me stage and most demons carry less harmful bacteria in their mouths than humans do. They're a bit like dogs that way' he replied. 'Of course if it had been slimier I'd have got one of_ you_ to do it' he deadpanned reaching into his pocket for a cellphone, or as he called it a mobile punching in a number from memory.

'_Angel Investigations we help the…oh crap wrong line. I'm sorry Slayer Control speaking_' a voice at the other end of the line declared.

'Good evening Ms. Chase. Patrol Eight here' Stephen began. 'We just ran into some demons and we're going off our assigned patrol route to dispose of them' he told her. They should be able to just about fit all the corpses in the back of the SUV, that's why they used one, and of course why they kept plenty of plastic wrap. Throwing them in one of the water hazards or burying them in a sand bunker wasn't really an option even if it would have been a lot more convenient.

'_Hey Stephen. Everyone alright? What did you run into_?' Cordelia asked from the Hyperion. It was her shift tonight, she'd agreed to swap with Anya because she and Xander were going to see a film again, those two were definitely heading back towards item country.

'Everyone's fine' Stephen replied. 'They were Skilosh if that means anything to you?'

'_Skilosh_!' Cordelia responded in a rather shrill tone. '_I hate those things_' she declared. '_They made me a host once, there aren't any more are there_?' she asked with concern. '_They travel in like packs_' she warned.

'We'll get rid of these and then have a look around' Stephen replied. 'We've got plenty of hardware if there's a more' he told her. That was true, they weren't just carrying plastic wrap in the SUV they had plenty of heavy duty armaments just in case.

'_Call if you need help_' Cordelia replied. '_I'll tell Patrol Six to get ready to head up your way if you need them, they're the closest_' she advised.

'I'm sure we'll be fine Ms. Chase' Stephen told her. 'Will inform when we're back on patrol. Bye.

Cordelia said goodbye and the young watcher ended the call sticking his cellphone back in his pocket. 'Okay so there's seven of them' he said, 'two each for you and I'll carry the smallest one' he said reaching down to pick up one of the dead Skilosh.

Shannon frowned. 'A gentleman would take the heaviest' she noted.

'A modern Twenty-First Century guy_ lets_ the girls that are several times stronger than him do the heavy lifting, anything else could be construed as sexist' he declared.

'You hold doors open for girls all the time what's the difference?' Shannon asked him reaching to pick up a Skilosh of her own.

'Holding open doors is light work' the Watcher replied tongue-in-cheek hefting the Skilosh onto his shoulder. 'This however is too much like a real job' he complained starting to carry it to the Range Rover he'd parked nearby. It was fairly obvious who had ordered the vehicles that now occupied the Hyperion parking lot when they weren't out on patrol, Giles had bought British somewhat to the chagrin of others that were as yet unconvinced by his declaration of the innate superiority of British built four-wheel-drives.

'Why couldn't they all just turn to dust like vampires?' Natasha complained wrestling with one of the corpses herself.

'Don't complain' Shannon told her. 'Did you hear about Danielle and those two Glurgs the night before last?'

Natasha grimaced. 'I am never going up against anything that's mostly puss without a flamethrower' she declared.

'Imagine the smell though' Jacqueline interjected.

Shannon felt nauseous just thinking about it. 'This job is just pure glamour' she said sadly as she hefted a dead demon across a golf course at night.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – July 2003**

'You're sending us away' the girl responded utterly crestfallen. Her twin sister just looked at him while the older of the three looked stoic, Giles had already talked to the latter an hour ago, just before breakfast, prior to broaching the topic with her younger siblings.

Giles inwardly winced. 'It's not like I'm banishing you to outer darkness' he told them. 'You need to go home and get on with your lives' he told them. 'For a start you're going to have to go back to school eventually.'

Deborah crossed her arms, she was always the most headstrong of the pair, and looked him in the eyes. 'Our school was burned to the ground' she pointed out.

'We'll enrol you in another school' Giles told her. 'The best we can find' he reassured them.

'An _ordinary _school?' Jessica spoke up aghast.

Deborah took her sisters hand. 'I am not going to somewhere where the kids read Harry Potter instead of real books on magic' she stated flatly. 'We're _Watchers_' she added forcefully her sister nodding in affirmation.

'You're _eleven_' Giles replied curtly. 'I'm talking to you like adults because I think you deserved to be treated with respect but you _are_ children' he noted, 'and children need an education' he told them. 'More than that you need a proper home' he added.

Deborah really took exception to that. 'Firstly we're twelve next week' she began, 'and secondly you're sending us to a boarding school _not_ home' she said. 'Our house in London was home' she told him, '_Mum and Dad_ were home' she continued, 'and they're _dead_, they aren't coming back, our parents are _gone_' she said her eyes tearing up.

'We haven't got _anyone_' Jessica reinforced the point quietly. 'All our friends were at the Academy, all our relatives were Watchers and they're gone too' she said. 'The only people we _know_ are here' she said truthfully.

Giles took a breath. It was often like that, he thought, Watcher families were dynastic, they also tended to intermarry so that a surprising number of the Council were cousins of varying distances. Watcher children grew up playing with the children of other Watchers, went to school with them, graduated the academy together, they were a close knit bunch and the girls here were not atypical. They quite literally had nobody left but each other. It was heartbreaking but he kept his feelings under a tight leash, they needed stability which meant they needed _him_ to be stable.

He'd seen this coming a mile off. Pretty much as soon as he had found them the girls had looked to him as the automatic authority figure, he was the Senior Watcher, in fact technically the _only_ Watcher since Wesley was not a member of the Council and Stephen was just a trainee like them, so _he_ was their superior, the one that they would defer to and look to for guidance. Giles remembered what it was like to be raised to be a Watcher, despite the sometimes stifling oppression of destiny it also had the reassurance of _certainty_ and knowing you had a purpose in life and that it was worthwhile.

'So what about Stephen?' Deborah asked. 'Is he getting exiled too?'

'Stephen is eighteen and can make his own mind up' Giles replied. 'He's not sure what he wants to do' he added. 'And don't exaggerate' he told her, 'you are not getting "exiled_"_.'

'I'm not going back to England without Stephen' Jessica stated firmly then turned to her older sister. 'He's your boyfriend, tell him he's got to stay with us' she said, Deborah nodding in agreement. They may look to Giles for leadership now but in some way they still looked to Stephen for security. During the attack on the Academy, and later in the weeks they were running and hiding from the Harbingers of the First, Stephen had been the one that saved them and looked after them and although he wasn't always much fun, he could be very serious sometimes, he neatly filled the role of sword carrying security blanket. He himself was currently still asleep after working the previous night but as soon as the girls got out of here they were going to wake him up for sure.

Emily sighed. 'I have talked to him' she said. 'He _wants_ to stay with us but they need Watchers here for all the Slayers' she replied. 'So he's not sure what he's going to do' she said, clearly upset by that.

'That's right' Deborah declared. 'You _need_ Watchers here' she told Giles. 'We can help' she said. 'Emily more than Jessica and I' she admitted, 'but we'll help too, we know about Demons and Vampires and we can translate texts' she said. 'I speak better Latin than Willow and Jessica's way better than me.'

Giles smiled. Actually they both did speak and write better Latin than Willow, or young Dawn for that matter, but there wasn't much demand for pre-teen Watchers even when they were a rare commodity. 'Maybe in a few years' he told her.

'Couldn't we stay here and go to school?' Jessica asked.

'It's not that simple' Emily told her. 'There are legal issues too' she continued. 'We're orphans' she pointed out. 'Mr Giles has no legal rights over us.'

Deborah's jaw dropped. 'They'll put us in a children's home' she said in horror. 'We'll be fostered or adopted' she said. 'They could split us up. Nobody is going to want three girls.'

'I'm sure it wouldn't come to that' Giles told her sounding a lot more certain than he genuinely felt.

'I won't let anyone split us up' Emily told her sisters.

'You couldn't stop them' Deborah retorted.

Jessica looked at Giles. 'Couldn't _you_ adopt us?' she asked. 'I mean if you did they couldn't split us up or put us in an orphanage.'

Giles blinked. 'I don't think they'd let me even if I thought it was a good idea' he replied apologetically. 'I'm single for a start, they prefer married couples and you need someone who actually has an idea how to be a parent.'

'We'd be good' Jessica pleaded. 'Couldn't you try?' she implored.

'I just don't think it's an option' Giles told her getting flustered. 'I don't think I'd do it very well anyway' he added. 'You need a real family.'

Emily frowned, she hadn't really considered this. 'You wouldn't have to do anything' she told Giles. 'I'd look after them' she promised. 'You could get a lawyer, see if you could, you can afford a really good one' she reminded him.

Giles looked at Jessica and Deborah not knowing what to say. Fortunately at that precise moment fate intervened as he got the strange sensation that something was wrong shortly before everything started to shake. 'Tremor' he said quickly. 'Get under the doorway' he said sharply.

The girls looked terrified as they huddled in the doorway Giles remembered his first experience of an earth tremor once he'd moved to California as he joined them. It was a really strange experience, the ground back in England just didn't move unless you were digging it up. For that matter they didn't get volcano's, tornados, tsunamis or hurricanes back home either thereby proving the old truism that God was quite clearly an Englishman. 'It's alright' he told them just before Jessica put her arms around him.

The tremor only lasted a few seconds then was over but it felt like longer than that. 'You can let go of me now' he told the girl.

'Giles are we expecting an apocalypse?' Buffy asked loudly bounding into line of sight.

'No but you might like to check with Illyria to see if anything is due to happen she hasn't bothered to tell us about yet' Giles called back as Buffy reached for her cellphone. Illyria always carried hers, she was quite the technophile despite her ridiculous age and relentless nostalgia for the good (bad?) old days.

Jessica let go of Giles and was blushing with embarrassment apologising for grabbing him. Giles smiled and told her it was fine.

'Illyria says that she doesn't remember this happening before' Buffy announced, the cellphone held to her ear. 'To me that says bad things about to happen' she added redundantly. Anything different from what was expcted _always_ meant bad things about to happen, especially things that began with earthquakes.

Giles sighed. 'Right' he said. 'If the world still exists next week we'll take up this conversation again then' he told the girls.

Saved by the apocalypse he thought with relief.


	8. Chapter 8

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – July 2003**

'Isn't all this… well honestly isn't it a bit paranoid?' Rona asked looking around the dining room. 'I mean this _is_ LA, tremors aren't that unusual right?' she pointed out reasonably. It looked like they were getting ready to go into the hellmouth again, heck they didn't have half this gear when they went after the First. That arms-dealer guy had been delivering hardware like there was no tomorrow, of course the reason for the hardware was maybe otherwise there wasn't.

It seemed like the entire room suddenly stopped what they were doing and looked at her. 'Giles do you remember what happened when you said something like that once?' Buffy asked looking over to him.

The Watcher nodded. 'Shortly after I reminded you we were in Southern California and said there was no reason to believe anything was going to happen, we were trying to stop some Vahrall Demons ending the world as I recall.'

'And Spike nearly helped them' Xander pointed out with a smirk continuing to load magazines for his M16A2.

'You really love throwing that in my face don't you' Spike complained bitterly stabbing a finger towards Xander. 'It was a bleeding accident' he protested for the umpteenth time.

Faith chuckled, sometimes it was hard to remember that even Rona was a newbie by their standards. 'It's not whether you're paranoid but whether you're paranoid _enough_' she said inspecting one of the daggers laid out on the table in front of her.

'It's not so much being paranoid as being prepared' Wesley opined as he unlocked one of the crates bought up from basement storage. 'Okay who's been playing with the Night-Vision goggles?' he asked. 'There's a pair missing and they weren't signed for' he said checking the sheet taped to the inside of the box lid.

'Connor took them' Angel replied, he was trying to track that Eve girl but she's a tricky one. 'He lost her again earlier, he told me he's heading back here.'

'He's got to sign for things when he takes them' Anya stated loudly. 'If we don't follow proper procedures we'll have anarchy' she declared and went back to counting crossbow bolts and tying them into bundles keeping a careful tally of how many she was preparing for distribution. These things cost money and she was sure the Slayers didn't take enough care of the things they were issued.

'We're still short on Incendiary Grenades and 40 millimetres for the Launchers' Vi noted going through the inventory. 'We did get the final shipment of shotgun shells yesterday though, a few of the girls are loading bandoliers down the hall' she told Wesley.

'What mix of shells?' Wesley asked as he started to strip and clean the first assault rifle he'd retrieved from the next crate.

'Thirty-two Buckshot, sixteen Flechette and eight Brenneke Solid Shot just in case' she answered.

'Perfect' Wesley replied. Buckshot would stop most things and was great up close but if they needed some more range the cluster of tiny darts in the flechette cartridges gave a closer grouping at a distance. The solid shots gave even more effective range but their main purpose was penetration and impact, they hit like a wrecking ball and although recoil was high that sort of thing wasn't a problem to a Slayer.

'We checked the data coming out from the USGS' Fred declared as she bounded into the room, Knox following close behind carrying a computer print-out, 'The seismic activity looks a little off' she said. 'Knox says he recognises the anomalies as being typical of supernatural involvement.'

'Back at Wolfram and Hart we always kept our eye on natural disasters, especially the ones we caused' Knox joked but it fell flat which disappointed him. He was also still slightly annoyed at having to rely on data from someone else rather than having their own seismograph but they did have a bare-bones Laboratory in the building now and a computer with enough power behind it for proper number crunching when required. Knox had put in a request for additional funds to be directed to the science team, which meant himself and Fred, but he hit a brick wall in the form of Anya who insisted that as large a percentage of their funds as possible be used to play, or rather cheat, the stockmarket.

'USGS?' Faith mouthed to Wesley.

'United States Geological Survey' he whispered back.

'Where was the epicentre?' Giles asked.

'Reseda just like the big quake of 1994' Knox replied. 'As a matter of fact it looks like _exactly_ the same place' he continued, 'nowhere near as powerful though.'

Wesley frowned, now why was his brain trying to remind him of something? 'Eureka' he said loudly.

'He really says that?' Buffy asked Angel quietly who shrugged in response.

'The Scrolls of Aberjian' Wesley said. 'I never did cross-reference that, I kept getting caught up in more urgent issues' he said to nobody in particular.

'Aberjian?' Angel said. 'The Shanshu Prophecy?'

Wesley shook his head. 'Not that section' he replied. 'Earlier in the Scrolls it mentioned a powerful demon that would arise in 2003, presumably it was noteworthy as something the Vampire with a Soul would have to face' he theorised. 'It was described as the Beast of Amalfi.'

'I hope you're going on more than that' Giles said.

'According to references from other texts it was due to arise in Reseda' Wesley told him.

Angel snapped his fingers. 'I made that joke about thinking it would be Tarzana instead' he remembered. 'Didn't one of your teams run into some trouble in Tarzana the other night?' he asked Buffy. The two San-Fernando Valley districts bordered each other. Reseda was just to the north of the wealthier area.

Buffy sighed, this was moving beyond coincidence territory now,'Okay I'm sold' she said. 'What do we know about this guy?'

'Not much I'm afraid' Wesley replied apologetically. 'It was merely described as a "razor toothed, six-eyed harbinger of death" as I recall.'

'Well he'll stand out in a line-up anyway' Xander quipped.

'Harbinger you say' Giles said scratching his chin. 'You don't think it could have any links to the First?'

'It honestly never occurred' Wesley replied. 'Certainly possible I suppose. Perhaps it was destined to rise before the First unleashed its army? Or it could just be a coincidence of course.'

'Someone want to run this by Illyria, see if she knows anything?' Buffy asked.

'I'll go up and see her' Fred replied heading off.

'You know there's something strange about a chick that spends her free time on the roof playing computer games' Xander noted.

'If you think that's remotely the strangest thing about Illyria I'm wondering what dimension you've been in the last few months because it sure wasn't this one' Buffy told him. 'Where's Willow? Anyone know?'

'With the Guardian' Giles replied in a tone that indicated he wasn't too happy about that.

'Again?' Xander exclaimed. 'If they spend much more time together Kennedy will be getting jealous.'

'I sincerely doubt they spend their alone time in the same way' Wesley told him. 'At least the idea that they don't is too horrible to contemplate' he deadpanned.

'Realistically I think Medousa has designs on Willow in the successor rather than any other sense' Giles said. 'And thank you for bringing an image into my mind that will have to be heavily repressed Wesley.'

Wesley put on a fake frown. 'I hope you aren't saying that relationships with massive age gaps are wrong because I think I may have the all-time record there.'

'Yeah he puts Buffy's things with Fang and Casper the Unfriendly Vamp to shame there' Faith agreed cocking her head towards Wesley.

'You're the ultimate toyboy' Xander agreed. 'There wasn't even a thousand years between me and Anya.'

'Isn't' Anya said coldly.

'What?' Xander responded.

'You said "wasn't" you should have said "there _isn't_ even a thousand years between me and Anya".'

Xander suddenly felt all eyes on him.

'Are you back with Anya?' Buffy asked quizzically narrowing her eyes.

'Yes' Anya said.

'No' Xander said, 'Well not really.'

Anya glared at him. 'Are we, or are we not, sleeping together' she asked angrily.

Spike grinned. 'Did you think that you could really get the milk for free without buying the cow' he asked Xander. 'It don't work that way, not in the long term, at least not for them.'

Xander took an uncommon interest in the box of 5.56 millimetre rounds on top of the table in front of him. If he was lucky the apocalypse might kick off any second and save him from the rest of this conversation, come on Amalfi you bastard he thought desperately as Anya's eyes seared into him.

'I think he's waiting for divine intervention, or maybe demonic' Wesley said. 'I've always found that nothing fails like prayer and generally the demon showing up just delays the inevitable.'

'Rather fatalistic Wesley' Giles told him.

'I might run a rough draft of my autobiography past you one day Rupert' Wesley replied with a wry smile. 'It's amazing I'm still as optimistic as I am.'

'Stop looking at those bullets and bite one' Giles advised Xander quietly. 'What's the worst that could happen?' he asked rhetorically before realising they _were_ surrounded by lethal weaponry and remembering that Anya _was_ a recovering vengeance demon.

Why do I put myself in these situations, Xander asked himself despondently as he looked up and turned to face Anya, and more to the point why do the Powers-That-Be not step in for _me_ sometimes? Do they only use me for comedy relief or something, he wondered sadly?

Fred found Illyria exactly where expected. She was sitting on a chair up on the roof playing a game on a laptop PC and seemed engrossed in the action though she paused the game and looked up when Fred approached. 'Good game?' Fred asked.

'Max Payne' Illyria replied. 'I enjoy the use of bullet-time, it makes the game seem more realistic' she replied. 'Do you want something?' she asked her double.

'Wesley thinks that something called the Beast of Amalfi is going to rise in Reseda, that's where that tremor was centred' she said. 'We wanted to know if you knew anything about it.'

Illyria shook her head. 'Neither the tremor nor this Amalfi featured in the original timeline' she replied.

Fred pursed her lips. 'That's kinda odd' she said. 'Because it was predicted to and the changes you've made to the timeline should be _stopping_ those kind of prophecies happening not _causing_ them.'

The God-King frowned. 'Is this prophecy reliable?'

'It's from the Shanshu one' Fred replied. 'We hope it's reliable or otherwise Angel will never become human.'

'Destiny is pliant, even for those who are not as powerful as I' Illyria told her. 'It is possible that another force prevented this Amalfi rising in the original timeline and my presence has inadvertently restored the prophecy by a convoluted route.'

Fred had always believed in the concept that destiny could be screwed if you wanted it bad enough, in many ways Illyria was proof of that belief, she bent the universe to her whim and refused to contemplate the idea that she was merely a pawn in somebody else's game, for that matter even as a King she was damn sure nobody was ever going to put her in check, screw the rules about only being able to move one square at a time. 'If it got a mention in the Scrolls of Aberjian Amalfi must be powerful' Fred noted. 'We might need your help.'

Illyria looked back down at her laptop. 'If my assistance is required let me know and I will teach this Amalfi what "powerful" actually means' she declared like the God she was.

Fred would have done a lot of things to be that unshakably confident, but maybe not the hair colour and the dominatrix outfit.

**Reseda – Los Angeles – July 2003**

'More Skilosh' Connor said quietly, taking off the night-vision goggles and leaning into the open drivers-side window of the SUV, he had gone off for a quick check of the area and had returned quicker than the team expected. 'That's the second group we've run into tonight' he said. 'We going to take them out?' he asked.

'We're supposed to take one alive for interrogation' Kennedy replied from the drivers seat. 'Orders from Buffy' she explained.

Connor looked thoughtful. 'They're not going to be easy to sneak up on' he told her. 'It's not just the extra eye, they looked really edgy' he continued. 'I couldn't get close enough to listen in but they were talking among themselves a lot.

'How many of them?' Kennedy asked.

'Only four' Connor told her, 'they're holed up in an alley behind that church there' he pointed out.

'Residential area' Kennedy said looking around. 'I know it's late but if we make a lot of noise somebody is going to come out and see what's happening' she said. 'We're supposed to be low profile, we don't want the LAPD showing up.'

One of the two other slayers in the back leaned forward. 'We've got a couple of crossbows in the trunk and I've got a silencer for my pistol' she said. 'We take out three of them at once and Connor gets the drop on number four' she suggested. 'He can get closer than we can and let's face it, he's quicker.'

Kennedy considered the plan, the fact was that Connor _was_ a bit faster than a Slayer, if not quite as strong, and he was certainly a damn sight better at sneaking up on things. 'You got a Taser?' she asked.

Connor grimaced, having been shocked himself he wasn't a fan of stun-guns. 'No but I could try the blunt object to the back of the head technique' he replied looking around for a brick or something.

'You'd have to get too close for that' Kennedy replied leaning over to open the glove compartment and pulled out a Taser Gun handing it to him. 'Get within ten yards and pull the trigger' she told him. 'Once it's stunned _then_ you can knock it out' she told him.

Connor agreed reluctantly and stuck the Taser in his jacket pocket. 'You know one day we're going to get pulled over by the Cops and they won't like what they find we carry on these patrols.'

Kennedy grinned. 'Already planned for that' she said. 'The evidence would mysteriously disappear from the Police Station' she told him. 'There's not a lockup built that can keep out people who can just teleport or portal in. Buffy was more worried about the ATF turning up at the Hyperion one day asking about Grenade Launchers but Willow put a glamour on the door to the armoury so it would look like a wall when we want it to.'

Connor smiled back. 'Okay so let's bag ourselves a three-eyed demon' he said moving back from the car so Kennedy could get out. 'Hey it they might be able to see behind them but at least they've got crappy depth perception that way.'

Kennedy pulled on a set of night-vision goggles and took a crossbow that was offered her testing the laser sight that was attached by putting a dot on a nearby wall. Pre-Industrial and Space-Age technology melded together. Come to think of it that was the new slayer way, swords and shotguns, magicks and machine-guns, the choice of a new generation of the chosen.

'Happy hunting' she told the two girls with her as one loaded a bolt into her own crossbow and the other screwed a silencer onto an automatic pistol.

This job is just awesome Kennedy thought happily as she put on her game face and got to work.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – July 2003**

The Skilosh woke up secured to a chair with a headache and a black eye, the one in the back of his head as it happened. It looked around, in all directions, without having to turn its head like one of the many humans surrounding it would have to, and prepared for the inevitable.

'I'm telling you there's no such thing as a Pirate Skilosh with an eyepatch on the other side of its head' one of the humans was telling another in an exasperated tone and an unusual accent. 'Oh hang on it's awake' it added. 'I was starting to think Connor had given it major concussion.'

'Might be worth dissecting one to see how thick the skull is' a slim female human suggested.

'Might be worth vivisecting this one while it's still alive to see how the third eye connects up to the visual cortex' another replied. A male this time he was wearing a white lab coat which added to the inherent threat there.

They all looked very much alike to the Skilosh but you could sometimes tell them apart by height, build and hair colour and the captive started to assign the ones surrounding it names based on that. Short and blond pulled up a chair and sat directly in front of the demon just out of tongue range. 'So what do you know about Amalfi?' the human female asked.

The Skilosh failed to prevent a look of recognition flashing across its face and inwardly swore in its own language, it spoke English of course but it thought and dreamed in Skiloshi and cursed itself for being so stupid blaming the headache for preventing it thinking straight.

'Okay so I think we hit paydirt here' the blond female said with a smug grin. 'So are you going to spill or do we start burning out eyes with a red hot poker?' she asked.

The demon might have thought that an idle threat if another human wasn't standing behind her heating up a metal rod with a blowtorch, the one that had denied the existence of pirate Skilosh earlier in fact. It was wearing thick gloves to protect itself from the heat and certainly looked serious. The Skilosh knew enough human history to know there was no limit to what some of them were capable of, his clan were considered evil by them but there was nothing in Skilosh history to remotely compare to the worst excesses of humanity. It was spoken of in many demon myths that one day the plague of humanity would put the universe to the torch and it was their destiny to fight to keep the monsters in check, Amalfi was part of that legend, if the humans got too strong it would rise to restore the balance.

'We will defeat you' The Skilosh said defiantly. 'Amalfi will lead us to victory.'

The blond female smiled. 'We've beaten Gods, forced warlocks to run for their lives, beaten armies of things that could tear your kind to pieces, hell we've saved the world so many times I'm starting to lose count' she replied. 'Your Amalfi is just another wannabe big-bad with some third-rate footsoldiers' she told him confidently. 'Now if you tell us everything you know it'll be quick' she promised cocking her head towards a brunette holding a chrome and metallic red scythe, otherwise it'll be slower than you can imagine.'

The Skilosh broke out into a broad grin. 'We know of your Slayers, your magicks, the traitors to demon kind that fight alongside you, they are as nothing compared to Amalfi' it said. 'You have never even faced a pure bred demon, the last to walk this world was vanquished by the weapon there centuries past' it told her recognising the scythe for what it was. 'Amalfi is beyond what you can imagine.'

'This dude is well informed' the female holding the scythe remarked.

'Cocky too' the blond responded. 'So if this Amalfi is as powerful as you say why not tell us when he's due to show up and we'll test your theory.'

The Skilosh looked her in the eyes. 'Soon' it answered, 'and then the City of Angels will fall into the pit' it said. 'It is foretold, it will happen, the blood of slayers will run in the streets like a river. It says so in the ancient texts.'

'Care to give us an exact time so we don't have to hang around waiting?' the blond asked. 'If I make them wait around for longer than a standard eight-hour shift the girls start asking for overtime rates' she said. 'The next thing you know they'll be forming a damn Union.'

The Skilosh closed its eyes, it was more than willing to die for the cause, for the cause was just. 'Kill me' it told her. '_Maka hanua, maka hanua glarmii_' it howled.

'My life, my life for the Clan' the one with the blowtorch translated.

Buffy got up from her chair and turned to Wesley holding the blowtorch. 'Torture it' she said.


	9. Chapter 9

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER NINE**

**Encino – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Angel checked around the corner then leaned back against the wall. There was supposed to be another group of Skilosh heading this way, one of the Slayer teams was tracking them from a distance, and he wanted to get the jump on them. He wouldn't have dreamed there were this many but they had been popping out of the woodwork right across the San Fernando Valley. He was on his own, the lone-wolf thing suited both his style and personality, besides which this was his town and he didn't like always relying on Slayer backup.

'You're not fighting the right battle, it's not even the war it should be' a voice from the darkness declared.

Spinning to towards the source of the words Angel found himself looking at familiar features that he hadn't seen in years. 'Whistler?' he asked in surprise.

'The very same' the figure replied. 'Long time, no see' he continued. 'You've changed' he said. 'Changed a lot of other peoples lives on your journey too' he noted. 'Really earned yourself a good rep with the folks upstairs.'

'Tried to do my best' Angel responded. 'I'm working here, could you maybe come see me at the Hotel?' he asked.

Whistler rubbed his nose then pulled a grubby looking handkerchief from his pocket and blew it. He was wearing his scruffy human disguise, going incognito as normal but underneath the bad hat he was demon through and through. 'I've been waiting for you to get out of there' he told the vampire, 'trying to get you alone.'

'Message from the Powers That Be?' Angel asked, 'Top Secret? My eyes only?' he asked with the hint of a smile forming. The PTB's loved to play their little games sometimes.

'Got it in one' Whistler replied. 'The message is this, stop helping to upset the balance' he told him.

Angel looked confused. 'What?'

Whister took off his porkpie hat and checked it in the light coming from the nearest streetlamp. 'The balance' he repeated. 'You're screwing it up entirely.'

The vampire looked at the short figure. 'Care to give me a bit more of an explanation here?' he asked. 'I thought we were scoring high.'

The short figure shrugged and put his hat back on. 'I'm a Balance Demon' he said. 'Entrusted by the Powers-That-Be to help keep the universe on an even keel' he said holding out both hands palms up and miming a set of scales. 'Now the evil guys are always trying to alter the balance' he said, 'fact is they do it so well that it's outweighed the Good guy side of the scales since… well since forever' he continued. 'The Powers work through guys like us to even things up a bit, stop evil winning the game.'

'Restore the balance' Angel interrupted. 'I know the deal.'

'Bingo' Whistler responded. 'The problem is, _this_ is what the world is like now' he said and mimed the scales being completely out of balance.

'Evil is winning?' Angel asked.

'No you jerk' Whistler responded sharply. 'Evil is the _other_ hand' he said wiggling the fingers on his left. 'Evil is right on the verge of crushing defeat for the first time ever, I mean in the next few centuries anyhow' he said. 'The Powers don't want evil to win but they don't want them beaten permanently into the dirt either' he explained. 'The universe needs balance and the scales just ain't looking so good right now.'

Angel felt his jaw drop and put his face in his hands for a few seconds before looked up again. 'Are you _seriously_ telling me that the Powers That Be are pissed because _we're_ the ones in the driving seat for once?' he asked incredulously.

'Christ man, they tried the subtle approach' Whistler told him. 'Haven't you noticed that your pal Cordelia hasn't been getting any visions recently?'

Angel blinked. 'We thought that was because of carrying Jasmine' he replied.

Whistler shook his head. 'They were trying to redress the balance by not giving you any more help but it wasn't enough' he replied 'For that matter with like fifty Slayers in one place how come _none _of you noticed there weren't any of the Slayer precognition dreams going on either?' he asked rhetorically, rolling his eyes. 'And now seeing as how we're on the subject there's a shit load more trained Slayers in the world than there should be, add in the good guys playing hard-ball now and then worst of all throw in that you've got the Goddess-Queen or whatever the hell it's calling itself these days giving you the heads-up about the future and the upshot of it all is _chaos_.'

'So the Powers have an issue with Illyria' Angel asked, not that it was any great surprise. Her methods were just a tiny bit more proactive than theirs, he couldn't see them playing nice together.

'_Everyone_ has an issue with Illyria, on _both_ sides' Whistler responded. 'The fucking thing just goes around doing whatever the hell it wants totally unchecked by prophecy, or destiny or even just enough simple goddamn common-sense to leave well enough alone' he declared. 'If it's not stopped it'll bring the entire universe crashing down around our ears.'

Nothing but hyperbole, Angel thought. The Powers were always full of shit as far as he was concerned. 'Sure your bosses aren't just sore that she's made more progress in the last few months that they did in what, a couple of million years?' he asked sarcastically. 'Never seen the big boys at Wolfram and Hart keeping their heads down because they were worried about your bosses but I _know _the Blue Meanie scares the crap out of them.' He couldn't exactly say he was a full on Illyria devotee but despite her almost insufferable megalomania and the bouts of mind-meltingly grating nostalgia he still thought more highly of her than the Powers he realised and felt like he should defend her.

'Progress?' Whistler repeated. 'You think turning a bunch of super-powered teenage girls into the Dirty Dozen and releasing them on the world all guns blazing and swinging enchanted swords is _progress_?' he asked rhetorically. 'It's _anarchy_' he declared. 'It wasn't meant to be like this' he continued. 'In a few years demonkind would have been banished from this world after a great battle not to return for centuries, the Powers were going to give the world a Time-Out but that ain't what the seers are saying now.'

'The Demons conquer Earth?' Angel asked. 'A fight back?'

Whistler groaned, the guy just wasn't getting it. 'The _humans_ conquer the whole damn multiverse and when they do they plant great big blue flags all over the place' he said. 'Okay so it's a worse case scenario from our seers but the only remaining demons are either in reservations or zoos and do you know who's running the whole operation?'

'Illyria' Angel said quietly, the blue flags line was a dead giveaway.

'God-Empress of the fucking Universe' Whistler said shaking his head. 'If you want a vision of the future, picture a combat boot stamping on a demons face forever' he said. 'Not exactly utopia to my way of thinking.'

'A surprisingly pleasing image of the future that you conjure' another voice interrupted from the darkness behind Whistler. 'A pleasurable vision of Imperial Glory and violence that would surely stir my soul if I had such a thing.'

'Illyria!' Angel said looking around at the slender blue haired woman that had approached. He'd known she was out patrolling tonight but you never knew where. He wasn't the only lone-wolf on the crew, the Old One liked to work alone too unless circumstances dictated otherwise, she was quite forthright why, anyone else tagging along tended to severely cramp her style.

'I came upon this one following you and tailed it in turn' Illyria told Angel. 'It had the aura of the Powers upon it, and I know you are aligned with them to some degree, so I did not slay it out of hand, but I thought it best to see what it wanted from you.'

Whistler looked her up and down as she did likewise. 'You've got to be stopped' he said gathering his wits. 'If necessary we'll stop you ourselves' he declared less than convincingly because of the tremor in his voice.

The God-King smirked. 'If it was easy someone else with power I hold in higher regard than you and your brethren would have stopped me by now' she responded before turning back to Angel. 'You are not getting the full story from this one' she told him. 'Care to tell the half-breed why the Powers are _really_ opposed to me?'

Whistler looked around for an escape route but it was pointless. There was nothing in this world that could escape the Old-One at this distance, she was literally faster than a speeding bullet and he was all out of kryptonite. 'You're a threat to the stability of reality' he said nervously.

'I'm a threat to _them, or _rather through me others will become such' she said with a knowing smile. 'They want balance, I want final victory, eventually we will come to blows and they, like the Wolf, Ram and Hart, fear they would not come out the winner in any such confrontation' she declared. 'The Powers are no more omnipotent than I, their illusion of omniscience is based merely on seers and they nowhere near as wilful or determined as myself. They can tweak destiny, play games with mortals but I am no puppet for them to command and they quake at the thought that one day my actions here will bring them to their knees.'

'You overestimate yourself' Whistler said unconvincingly. 'You are not as strong as you were in the beginning and even then you could not match the Powers.'

'_Humanity_ will match the Powers with me guiding them while they still require it' Illyria replied. 'My thoughts were once of petty revenge, albeit on a scale fitting a God, but the more I think about it, the more I learn of these people, I see something far greater' she continued. 'It is said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic but that is not the case. In time they will develop technology that _can_ be distinguished from magic because it is so far _beyond_ it. The gods themselves will one day quail before mankind even though it may take the species a thousand millennia to get that far' she said smiling at Angel while pointing at Whistler. 'They keep the balance not only to protect humans from the dark but to protect both light and dark from the _humans_. That is something I could have never conceived of in my original form, I thought that such as Homo-Sapiens were weak but they are mighty beyond measure, with great potential for good, evil or to grow beyond such trivia' she declared. 'They're kinda sneaky too' she added in a private joke only she understood that caused her smile to develop into a grin.

Angel looked into Illyria's glacial blue eyes. She was in human form but her crystalline lenses gave her vastly improved visual acuity so she used them whenever there was nobody to conceal them from, sometimes in the daylight she hid them behind sunglasses. 'You didn't just get Fred's knowledge and her form, you got her belief in science and reason too' he opined.

Ilyria nodded 'Physics and mathematics, are the basis of a true understanding of reality, perhaps they are even the only true faith because they constantly seeks to correct their own errors and are not tied to dogma.' she replied. 'Humans use technology to shape their environment to suit themselves, eventually they will shape the universe itself, bend the cosmos to their whim, there is no limit to how far the species will go as long as they do not bind themselves' she said.

The Shaper of Things put her hands behind her back in a stance she had used whilst lecturing students at Sunnydale High. 'Demons, our kind halfbreed, have existed since before vertebrate mortal life evolved on this world but we have changed, evolved and grown, relatively little in that time, but conversely look at _them_' she said sweeping her arm around to indicate the city surrounding them, 'in a mere few thousand years humanity has gone from splitting flints to splitting the atom, from fire to fusion' she said. 'In your own few centuries they have gone from horse drawn buggies to supersonic jets, do they not fill you with awe so much as pity for their other limitations?'

Illyria crossed her arms. 'The option for Lucifer in Christian legend was to serve in heaven or rule in hell, I choose a different path, I will act as guardian to this realm, rule it if I must to protect it, but ultimately I will be eclipsed by mere mortals and I would have them think well of me when they do.'

'Long term planning' Angel observed, you had to give it to her, she had the vision thing as they say.

'After the first few million years you start to become a big-picture thinker despite yourself' Illyria replied with a faint smile before turning back to Whistler. 'Tell your masters to keep their nose out of my affairs. Their interference is neither welcome nor required any longer' she declared. 'They do not have the best interests of these people in mind, only their own. They had their chance to earn a position worthy of respect and devotion but they threw it away. They treat the people of this world as infants to be protected and restrained for what they tell themselves is the child's own good but is really their own. It's cowardice that drives them, not compassion.'

Whistler snorted. 'And you're Glindillyia the Good God of the North' he responded sarcastically.

'My selfish motivations are, by mere coincidence if nothing else I admit, better in result than theirs as far as the people here are concerned' Illyria replied honestly. 'Mark my words servant of the Balance, if you fuck with them I _will_ fuck with you' she vowed. 'Now, as my Wesley would say, bugger off back where you came from' she ordered.

Whistler sighed and turned to leave. 'Don't trust her. She'll betray you' he told Angel looking back.

'Would you?' Angel asked her as Whistler disappeared into the night.

'If necessary but only if you proved to be a hindrance to the greater good' Illyria replied evenly. 'At the moment you are a valued ally especially given your pre-existing suspicions of the Powers, you were never deluded enough to see them in a wholly positive light.'

'You do realise there's a big problem as far as the rest of us is concerned that _our_ view of what the greater good is may not be yours' Angel told her.

Illyria looked thoughtful. 'I can imagine that being the case, however I'm sure that eventually you would realise the errors in your reasoning' she replied magnanimously then paused looking up into the sky. It was a clear night and a few stars were visible despite the air pollution and the glow from the city lights. 'The title "God-Empress of the Universe" _does_ have a very appealing ring to it' she said. 'It is unlikely a more munificent or worthy candidate than myself exists for the role' she contended.

The vampire looked at the demon god, yes she was being serious he decided. 'Illyria' he began, 'you frighten the shit out of me' he told her frankly.

Illyria considered the half-breeds statement. 'I'd hate to think otherwise' she replied. 'If nothing else it proves you are paying attention.'

'People need free will' Angel stated. 'You might decide one day that they need protecting from themselves, you said yourself to Whistler you would rule this world if you thought you had to but I won't let you become a tyrant just because it might seem expedient to you one day' he told her. 'You're not the only immortal here, I'll be watching you, keep that in mind.'

The God-King looked at him. 'Our joint immortality also gives me plenty of time to sway you to my arguments halfbreed' she responded. 'Better keep those principles well honed because I am a grindstone that will never wear down itself' she told him then to his surprise she winked. 'So shall we hunt Skilosh?' she asked 'I will allow you the honour of the first kill.'

After a pause Angel chuckled. 'You said you'd be a munificent ruler' he replied.

'In my wholly realistic and objective assessment it would be truer to say that my rule would be _magnificent_' she advised him. 'You would make a fine candidate to command one of my Legions.'

Angel scratched his chin. 'What's the Dental Plan and how many days paid leave a year?' he asked.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Buffy looked down at the large map spread across the table. It looked very impressive but the illusion of professionalism had been completely spoiled when Andrew first made a sound like a car engine when he moved one of the tiny toy cars on the map that indicated the location of one of the reconnaissance teams. Most of the crew were still preparing weaponry to greet Amalfi or were patrolling leaving herself, Faith and the two Senior Watchers to play General Staff.

'They're continuing to converge on Reseda' Giles noted pointing with the pen in his hand at various points on the map. Skilosh sightings were indicated by tiny lead figurines of demons, he hadn't wanted to know but apparently they were something to do with that puerile "Dungeons and Dragons" game or at least that's what Knox had said when he saw them, he and Andrew were now off in one corner of the room planning a match or whatever they called it.

'It's not just Skilosh now' Wesley said crossing his arms. 'Other demons have caught wind that something is up and they're starting to tag along for the ride.'

'Always someone that wants to crash the party' Buffy noted. 'So are we sure of the timing here?' she asked.

'Our Skilosh friend was a cyclops before he eventually talked but I get the impression he was on the level' Wesley replied.

'We should have got him to sing for Lorne' Buffy observed.

Wesley shook his head. 'Lorne wouldn't countenance the torture' he replied.

'And the _demon_ is the humane one around here' Giles noted wryly. 'How far have we slid from the light for that to happen?' he asked rhetorically.

'The border between light and dark is twilight and shadow Rupert' Wesley replied. 'If we aren't prepared to step into it the ones that dwell further in the darkness will be out of reach.'

Giles sighed. 'Marvellous piece of rationalisation' he replied. 'Tell me how do you sleep at night?'

'In a sleeping bag on the roof next to a beautiful woman perfectly soundly except for hoping that A, it won't rain and B, that she doesn't turn the volume on her damn computer games up high enough to wake me up at four AM again.'

'She doesn't sleep and I don't think she ever gets tired, she could probably _sprint_ the marathon' Faith interjected. 'If it turns out she likes sex she'll kill you' she warned fighting back a grin.

'Not sticking it to the Smurf God yet?' Spike asked walking through the map table on his way across the room. 'Damn shame if you ask me, she looks like a goer' he added continuing on his way.

'_Nobody_ was asking you Spike' Wesley retorted.

'And I don't see anyone that can _stop_ me throwing in my two cents either, unless you've got one of those Ghostbuster Backpacks in that sad-arse gun collection you're amassing in the cellar.' Spike replied wandering over to where Dawn was reading a book. He liked talking to the knibblet, she treated him like a person despite the whole vampire ghost issue which most people had trouble dealing with. The fact he got to irritate a few people en-route to her was a bonus and he deliberately changed course to walk through Knox too.

'If we can't make him corporeal again soon so I can hit him couldn't we bring in a Priest and exorcise the prat?' Wesley asked semi-seriously. 'I'm sure the girls would be more relaxed when they took a shower at the very least.'

'He did save the world' Buffy pointed out. 'He's earned a little slack.'

'And most every day since then he's earned a big slap' Wesley retorted with a sigh. 'You know according to Illyria _I_ died trying to save the world too you know.'

'Wasn't that an alternate Wesley in another timeline?' Giles asked. 'Not technically _you_.'

'Yeah' Faith interrupted. '_He_ died the hero but _you_ got the girl… where's the justice there?'

'You've just got to think outside the box' Wesley told them. 'And moving swiftly on because I can't back that argument up one iota what's the plan Chief?' he asked Buffy skilfully, but hardly smoothly, diverting the conversation.

'We know nothing more about Amalfi?' Buffy asked.

'Skilosh Legend is long on talk of wrath, sharp teeth, multiple eyes, they really dig the multiple eyes thing by the way, but short on detail I'm afraid. All they know is that Amalfi rises, they serve him, Slayer blood flows like a river, your regular mayhem ridden apocalypse ensues and the human race gets the shit end of the stick' Wesley replied. 'I think it's fair to say that Amalfi is big, fierce and powerful and can look in an unusually large number of directions simultaneously but otherwise we've drawn a blank.'

'There's nothing in any of our texts, nor in those of the surviving watchers who have reported in or the private collections of retired watchers I've contacted' Giles said. 'Your father has an impressive Library incidentally Wesley, I was surprised at some of the works in his possession.'

'The Wyndham-Pryce family has been in the business a long time, since before Wyndham met Pryce actually' he replied with a slight smile. 'Plenty of time to put together a decent assortment of arcane works' he noted.

'So the plan boss?' Faith asked.

'We get together plenty of swords and guns, bring along a Witch and a God with clashing hair colours as backup just in case and we kick some demon ass' Buffy declared.

'It has the benefits of simplicity' Giles observed, 'rather lacking in subtlety though, the Iron Fist in the Iron Glove as it were.'

Wesley looked thoughtful 'I personally have developed the opinion over the last couple of years that brute force is a sorely underrated and unjustly maligned method of achieving ones goals in life' he observed. 'Very few situations cannot be resolved with the careful application of high velocity projectiles, high-explosives, sharp objects or a combination of all of the above.'

'And you know if that's philosophy I'm all for it' Faith told him approvingly. She might still lack the easygoing raport with Wes that B had with Giles but her Watcher was a whole lot cooler and she really dug the bad-ass attitude. If it wasn't for the fact that she was sure Blue would rip out her entrails if she tried she was pretty sure she'd have made a play for him by now. For one thing she was getting really antsy, she had thought about making a move on Wood but Illyria had had a quiet word one day that that would be a mistake, the guy had _serious_ Slayer/Mummy issues, supposedly she _had_ hooked up with him in the original timeline but it turned out badly. Keeping them apart was just another in a _very_ long list of things Illyria intended to turn out better.

'I'll add you to the mailing list for my newsletter' Wesley deadpanned in response to Faiths approval.

Giles turned to Buffy. 'You do realise that if anything happens to us these two are going to end up in charge' he warned. 'The role models to hundreds of slayers and watchers worldwide.'

Buffy grimaced. 'From now on we travel separately like the President and the Vice-President' she insisted.

**Reseda – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Amalfi awoke to full consciousness. It could feel the commotion above. The Skilosh were gathering as preordained the time was right. The Harbinger of Death prepared to leave the earth that had sheltered it so long and venture into the world above once more.

There was however another presence perceived, strange and unexpected. An Old One no less, it radiated power into its surroundings, it was ancient and strong, formidable and wilful beyond measure.

Bonus, Amalfi thought happily to itself.


	10. Chapter 10

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER TEN**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Angel finished his report back to the group. They were sat in a circle of chairs laid out in the dining room with the tables pushed out of the way. It was the core group, the original Scoobies and AI Team and a couple of observers by invitation who were hanging around listening. Buffy had five teams of Slayers on the ground in Reseda keeping an eye on the situation, with each team led by one of the most experienced of the new generation and Kennedy in overall charge. Buffy was confident they could handle most anything that came up and that they had the brains to call for help if they needed it, Kennedy could be headstrong but wasn't stupid enough not to listen to the more cautious counsel of Rona, Molly or Amanda if they disagreed with her. Illyria was helping with training, sparring with some of the other slayers trying to teach them a very important lesson that no matter how tough you are there's always something tougher out there.

'So we're on our own?' Cordelia said almost in a state of shock. 'The PTB's pulled the plug.'

Angel nodded and looked around the circle to check the reactions. They ranged from concern, to anger to complete indifference the latter coming from the young Watcher Stephen who was sat on a table just behind Giles and Wesley eating some sort of snack food from a large packet. The constant crunching was getting annoying but you had to admire the fatalism. Spike's reaction was the closest to the boy, he just looked bored by the whole thing, the ghost situation was starting to lose its novelty and he just wanted to get back to the crunch.

Wesley turned around to the young Watcher and threw him a disparaging look which turned to surprise when Stephen showed him the packet and offered him some which he took after a couple of seconds consideration and started crunching himself.

'I don't know what those are but _whatever_ they are stop eating them' Buffy said sharply. Apparently Angel wasn't the only one they were annoying, it could be the heightened senses he wondered.

'Yeah if we don't get Scoobie-Snacks you don't get Watcher-Snacks' Xander declared as the packet was put to one side.

'Balance my ass' Gunn said leaning back in his chair arms crossed. 'I knew those guys weren't on the level.'

'I think the issue is rather that the "level" is _exactly_ what they want' Giles remarked wryly.

'No more Slayer Dreams?' Faith said quietly. 'Well that'll cut down on my nightmare count' she said, 'the ones when I'm asleep anyhow.'

Buffy sighed. 'They sucked but they came in handy sometimes' she noted. 'Of course they could have been clearer, I don't like crpytic crosswords either.'

'Prophetic visions do have that drawback' Giles replied. 'And I miss the Sunday Times crossword myself' he added.

'Hey my visions were usually pretty clear' Cordelia interjected, 'they were painful for way too long, and they'd have helped if they came with an actual time and location stamp, but they weren't _that_ obscure' she told everyone the paused. 'I thought the mystical pregnancy thing had stopped those' she said quietly then frowned. 'You know you _could_ have just sent another vision telling us you were cutting me off' she said loudly towards the ceiling as if the jerks-that-be were listening in from above.

'The Powers work in mysterious ways their wonders to no longer perform' Wesley said meshing his fingers in front of him and starting to absent-mindedly twiddle his thumbs. 'It's not like they ever gave us a huge amount of notice or they warned us about the really bad stuff like Jasmine.'

'Hell a note in the fucking mail telling Wes to spike Cordy's Diet Coke with birth-control pills would have solved the Jasmine problem in advance' Faith pointed out with a grin.

Cordelia looked at Faith 'Oh yeah that's like _so_ funny' she said with a glare.

'Hey you got knocked up with a God via Fangs Kid' Faith retorted. 'If I was you I'd develop a sense of humour about it because if you don't the shrink bills will bury ya' she said still grinning.

'I think the real question here is that would they work _against _us?' Buffy asked getting the conversation back on track.

Angel shrugged. 'I got the impression they really don't like Illyria so maybe, I don't know what help they'd be though. Wolfram and Hart have their own seers already that aren't dependent on the Powers, as do other factions' he pointed out.

'Geez does that chick go out of her way to pick fights with higher-powers or what?' Gunn asked.

'I think she just rubs near omnipotent beings up the wrong way' Wesley replied with a faint smile. 'As regards seers I was thinking there are the relative independents too' he continued thoughtfully. 'If we're looking for one of our own to make up for the lost intel, or the possibility of the enemy getting PTB assistance we need to look further afield.'

Willow shook her head. 'As far as I know all the good guys are tied in with the powers to some degree, I wouldn't mind betting that the Devon Coven has been cut off now too because of their association with us' she said. 'There will still be the occasional clairvoyant or seer powerful enough to not need the Powers but I bet even they wouldn't see as clearly.'

'So we need someone with the sight who isn't tied up with Wolfram and Hart and who's not a good guy… and I just had the worst idea of my life' Angel said closing his eyes and shaking his head.

Spike looked at him with a grimace. 'You _can't _be thinking what I think you're thinking' he said.

Angel opened his eyes and looked at Spike before the two of them together turned to Buffy.

'Drusilla' they said simultaneously.

Everyone looked at them in a mixture of horror and shock at the very idea. 'Drusilla is a very powerful seer' Angel pointed out. 'She's nuts so we can probably use that to our advantage in terms of getting her to help despite the whole evil thing and besides which she did kill a load of Wolfram and Hart people so she's their enemy despite being...'

'Our enemy too' Cordelia interrupted getting a slightly reluctant nod of agreement from Angel in response.

Buffy stared into space for a long while. 'After we've dealt with Amalfi get together a team and track her down' she said eventually. 'We need to think about control and motivation, maybe something like the chip they put in Spike' she suggested. 'Fred you and Knox work on controlling her' she told the physicist.

Spike rolled his eyes to the celing. 'If you thought Slayer Dreams were cryptic wait until you spend some time with Dru' he told everyone. 'On the other hand even after a hundred years she was never boring, totally and utterly bonkers yes, but never boring. Unless she was boring a hole in someones head to let out the fairies... which I have seen her do' he added.

'And for our next trick we resurrect Darla so we can have all four of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse back together' Xander deadpanned. 'They could do a comeback tour of Europe' he added.

'They've aged better than Keith Richards' Giles noted sadly.

**Diner - Reseda – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Kennedy took another bite out of her Danish Pastry and savoured the taste. A very nice side-effect of the slayer metabolism was the ability to eat just about anything you wanted without any real concern about gaining much weight so she was already thinking about getting another before she was half way through this one.

The two girls sitting across from her were too nervous to think about lunch. They were both post-Sunnydale arrivals and this was their first possible apocalypse. Only one of them had even dusted a vampire and neither had met a Skilosh yet. Kennedy had taken personal responsibility for them as the Senior Slayer in the field and was more than faintly amused by how edgy they were. After looking a thousand Turok'Han straight in the eye other stuff barely registered these days, there was no way this Amalfi clown could be First-Level trouble and anything less than that was just stake, sword or if necessary scythe fodder.

'This seat taken?' a young man asked sitting down in the booth next to Kennedy before she could answer and putting a plate of eggs and bacon down in front of him.

'Hey Connor' Kennedy greeted him swallowing her bite of Danish before washing it down with some coffee. The other two were on fruit juice, they were jittery enough already. 'Thought you were further North?' she told him.

Connor nodded. 'Hey Ken, girls' he replied smiling at the newbies before getting back to Kennedy. 'I was up there until about an hour ago but I ran into Molly doing a sweep with her team so I've been trekking this way instead trying to fill in the gap between you' he told her. 'I saw your car outside so I thought I'd say Hi and get something to eat myself' he explained. 'So how are you doing?' he asked the two rookies.

One of the two blushed, she couldn't have been much past her fourteenth birthday and was more than a little shy and still not used to her new life, the other smiled back at him and said they were doing okay. 'Don't let Kennedy here scare you, her bark is worse than her bite' he advised them. 'Of course her bite is still pretty bad' he joked.

Kennedy chuckled. 'Coming from Son-of-Vamp that's rich' she retorted.

Connor grinned, he loved these exchanges with Kennedy she was snarky as hell. 'Hey I've seen the hickeys on Willows neck she tried to hide with that stupid silk scarf' he threw back, hook line and sinker he thought.

The slayer blushed. "Score" Connor thought triumphantly as the other two giggled. It was really hard to get her to do that, this was a victory for the annals he thought as she made a sign in the air indicating he'd won a point. She needed new material she thought, playing the vamp card wasn't cutting it anymore.

'Meet anything nasty on patrol?' the less shy of the other two asked Connor.

'Two guys tried to mug me but nothing demony if that's what you mean' Connor replied forking some bacon into his mouth.

'Two _human_ guys tried to mug you?' Kennedy said. 'How unlucky were _they_?' she asked rhetorically. 'You didn't do anything… permanent… to them did you?' she asked nervously after a pause, they had Slayer rules on what level of harm they were permitted to use on humans but she didn't know if Connor took notice of them.

'One broken wrist, a smashed nose and some body work but nothing drastic' Connor replied dispassionately moving onto his eggs. He could have killed them both easily, not so long ago he might have taken a couple of ears as trophies too but he was better adjusted to the way of life here now. 'They'll be sore for a few days, might give them time to consider another line of work' he added with a faint smile.

Kennedy took another swig of coffee, well you couldn't argue they didn't deserve it she thought. They probably thought that the skinny kid would be an easy mark, boy were _they_ mistaken. Connor moved with master vampire speed and had barely sub-slayer strength, during sparring he'd managed to deck _her_ a few times and false modesty aside Kennedy knew that was damn difficult to do. She thought that she could take him most days, Faith and Buffy could for definite and probably a few of the others but she wouldn't bet on a majority of the girls against him in a fair fight, his experience made up for the strength disadvantage. 'Just left them laying there?' she asked.

'After I dropped their wallets and watches down a drain yes' Connor replied grinning broadly and provoking laughter from the three girls. He might not take ears anymore but he still had a slightly sadistic streak tempered with a sense of humour.

Kennedy's cellphone started to chime and she quickly picked it up checking the caller ID on the display, it was Rona. After listening for a few seconds she told her they were on their way and ended the call.

'Rona has run into a nest of Skilosh over to the East, she doesn't know how many so we're going to lend a hand' she said. 'You in?' she asked Connor.

'Nothing better to do' Connor replied taking a last mouthful of eggs. 'I'll pick up the tab' he said.

'We'll pay for ours' Kennedy replied. They got expenses to cover things like food, Connor basically just got an allowance.

Connor smirked. 'Don't worry about it' he said. 'I didn't say that there was any money left in the wallets before I dumped them did I? Lunch is on them' he said grinning and pulling a few loose notes from his pocket.

'Oh come on is that really moral?' Kennedy asked him rolling her eyes.

'An eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth, you reap what you sow and a few other biblical references I could cite say yes as far as I'm concerned' Connor replied. 'And besides which it's got comedy value up the ying yang' he added in a strange inclusion of his growing pop-culture influenced speech patterns to his religiously guided upbringing from Holtz.

'Okay I'm sold' Kennedy replied after a pause to think about it. 'You pay for lunch and we'll wait for you in the car' she told him getting up as he moved to let her out of the booth.

**Warehouse – Reseda – Los Angeles – July 2003**

They pulled up behind the other Range Rover already on the scene and got out to be greeted by Rona who indicated they should follow her.

They passed the body of a security guard that had been brutally slain by an edged weapon of some kind, a sight that horrified the newbies but didn't remotely faze Rona, Kennedy or Connor who only reacted by making an effort not to walk through the pool of blood.

'I've got my girls watching the other side' Rona told them quietly. 'They're packing broadswords and shotguns just in case' she continued. 'So far we've spotted at least a dozen Skilosh and there could be a lot more' she advised.

Kennedy looked around. 'Shouldn't there be more people about, or at least bodies?' she whispered. 'This place isn't abandoned, it looks pretty new' she considered following the other Slayer around a corner, she had already sent a text message to Moll's team telling them to haul ass over here too but they were at least ten minutes away.

As they made their way along, the absence of people, alive or dead was almost creepy. It was a working day and there were a number of trucks waiting to be unloaded but there was nobody manning the forklifts and nobody in the cabs, not even dead ones. The surrounding buildings looked deserted, they were in a much worse state than this one, and the silence was eerie too.

'Haven't seen any more corpses anywhere outside' Rona advised, 'they could be trying to make more Skilosh maybe? Gather up the warehouse staff in one place and give them the old tongue in the back of the head treatment' she suggested grimly. 'Thought we should check it out properly but I didn't want to risk taking just the three of us in without backup, could be an ambush or we could just accidentally run into like a fifty of them' she said pausing her stride. 'There's a door jammed open around the next corner' she whispered pulling her automatic pistol from its concealed shoulder holster. You didn't need anything special to kill Skilosh, a few rounds would deal with them pretty handily they'd discovered over the last few days, especially if you put a shot between any two of their eyes. They were tougher than ordinary humans but they were far from bullet-proof.

Kennedy pulled her own pistol, she had finally been given a passing grade in firearms even by Wesley's extremely harsh standards and was now the proud owner of one of the new standard issue Slayer handguns, a Glock 31 firing the .357 SIG Cartridge that Vi had been trying out since Sunnydale. It hit a lot harder and punched through a thicker hide than a nine-millimetre but you still got up to a seventeen shot clip which was useful when you needed to weigh something demony down with lead to stop it. Recoil was fairly harsh compared to some pistols because the muzzle velocity was so high but it wasn't a problem to someone with Slayer strength.

The other two girls didn't have handguns yet but they produced short-swords ready for action. 'Wait here' Kennedy whispered to them. 'If anything with a head that's got more than two eyes sticks it out that door chop it off' she ordered. 'If we're not back in ten minutes call for backup' she added.

'I'll go in first' Connor said producing a wicked looking hunting knife with a serrated edge. Sometimes you had to saw through a demons neck rather than just slice it and he didn't mind the mess.

Skilosh might literally have eyes in the back of their heads but that was no excuse for not properly guarding the perimeter Connor thought as he led the Slayers into the warehouse. Once they had ascertained what was going down they'd see if they needed to call in some more help, like maybe a couple of dozen more Slayers with shotguns, flamethrowers and maybe some of the really dangerous gear in the inventory. He stayed at least ten yards in front, he had keener senses and moved more stealthily than the girls so this was very much his thing. It was satisfying to be the best at something but he wasn't quite sure it was really worth all the years in the Quartoth Hell Dimension required to make him so damn good at this stuff.

Moving along between racks of boxes that reached to the ceiling Connor stopped and dropped to the ground finding a gap there he could look through before going around the next corner.

Well that explained where the warehouse staff and the truck drivers went anyway he thought.

It was clearly a ritual, and like so many it relied on blood and death, the corpses looked like they were being arranged in a pattern in the centre of the largest open space in the warehouse. There had to be at least seventy-five to a hundred Skilosh scattered around.

They started to chant, at least that would enable him to move again without risking being heard. Connor signalled for the two Slayers to move up to where he was and then smoothly slid around the corner using a pallet of boxes as cover. He wanted to get an accurate count before calling in the cavalry. There might be even more of them which meant bringing everybody in on the deal.

Connor managed to find a staircase up to a gantryway and quietly slipped up it to get a view down into the warehouse floor. The corpses were laid out in a pentagram, not exactly a surprise it was a staple of the black arts, and a couple of the Skilosh were writing symbols in blood around the points. Connor guessed this was an Amalfi related issue but then again for all he knew this might be a Skilosh Holy Day or something, maybe they would be handing out presents to each other in a second?

The ground started to shake and Connor quickly made his way back down to the ground not liking the way the gantry swayed in response. Just because the warehouse was _recently _built didn't mean it was _well_ built. Yup probably not about to hand out presents he thought as he squatted down behind some boxes to watch.

The concrete floor in the centre of the Pentagram began to crack as the shaking rose in intensity. Connor gripped his knife and reached into his jacket pocket for the fragmentation grenade he'd taken from the armaments box in the back of Kennedy's four-wheel-drive. Throwing things was something else he did damn well and he'd chucked a lot of grenades with great effect during the battles with the First's troops back in Sunnydale.

Amalfi was going to get one hell of a surprise when it got turned into bloody chunks about five seconds after it rose. Connor guessed the Skilosh would be pretty pissed about that but they'd have to catch the three of them to do anything about it and both the Slayers and himself could leave a Skilosh standing in a race. They'd certainly be well motivated when a hundred pissed-off demons wearing the remains of their master started chasing himself and the girls.

Connor looked back to where Kennedy was watching through the gap he'd been looking through earlier. He signalled for Rona to get her attention and showed them both the grenade, getting a grin and an enthusiastic thumbs up from Kennedy before she turned back to watching the proceedings, Rona squatting down to look through the same gap pistol ready for action.

The adrenaline was really pumping now, Connor could feel himself getting tensed for action. The blood was pumping in his ears and his senses got even sharper than normal, he could even smell Kennedy's scent drifting from over there. Damn she smelled good he thought.

Connor blinked as something became obvious. Oh for Gods sake, he realised, fifty girls and I've fallen for the damn lesbian, he thought to himself despondently, even the fantasy notion of getting a non evil-possessed Cordelia back was a more realistic scenario than him getting together with Kennedy. Someone up on high really liked to screw with his life he decided dragging his eyes away from her and back towards the ritual and the widening cracks in the concrete floor. If I ever meet the fates, Connor considered, I'll be carrying one of these he thought coldly getting ready to pull the grenade pin with his teeth, the knife still in his other hand.

The floor started to lift the cracks growing ever wider as did Connors eyes. Whatever it was it was_ big_. He desperately signalled to the girls they should get going and they took the advice getting up and moving hurriedly towards the exit.

Amalfi rose from the ground in one final push upwards scattering blood stained pieces of concrete and corpses in all directions. The Skilosh dropped to their knees in supplication as Connor looked at the beast in horror.

They weren't kidding about the eyes and teeth. They left out the really important stuff though, damn prophecies.

One of the six eyes spotted him in a flash, it was as if it was looking right through him and Connor felt an involuntary shiver race down his spine as he hadn't since facing the worst of the Quartoth as a boy. Vicious teeth that resembled the serrated edge of his knife as much as anything else grinned, actually _grinned_, in his direction.

Mind moving into overdrive and survival instincts overriding conscious thought for his own good, Connor pulled the pin and pitched the grenade at Amalfi's feet as he started sprinting away. It exploded a couple of seconds before he caught up with Kennedy and Rona and passed them racing to the car, the other two Slayers who had been waiting outside running with them. Rona was yelling into a radio for the two girls from her team around the back to join them at the double.

'Did you see it?' Kennedy yelled at Connor.

'Yes and it saw _me_' he yelled back. 'We could be in trouble here' he said in an almost panicked tone that really concerned Kennedy. She'd never seen him worried and she'd watched him take on a pack of demons each one half again his size.

Connor reached the closest Range Rover and opened the back pushing away the things laying on top of the heavy weaponry and chucking a shotgun at both Kennedy and Rona when they arrived, grabbing another for himself before taking a prepared bandolier of shells which he threw around his neck. 'Call for help' he told Kennedy tearing open one of the spare boxes of ammunition and loading the SPAS-12 with Brenneke Solid-Shot rounds. 'Everyone, every_thing_' he said urgently to Kennedy. 'Load with these' he told Rona pushing the box at her after sticking a few more in his pocket.

Kennedy took out her cellphone and quickly called the Hyperion. 'What do I tell them?' she asked. 'Do we need Illyria?' she asked.

The entire side of the warehouse was smashed out and Kennedy gaped and nearly dropped her cellphone. Amalfi, holy shit she thought.

Connor chambered a round in his shotgun. That shark in the film he'd seen on the TV last week had nothing on those teeth he decided.

'Tell them we're going to need a bigger God' he said flatly.


	11. Chapter 11

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

**Warehouse – Reseda – Los Angeles – July 2003**

'Yes I'm _certain_ it's Amalfi' Kennedy said into her cellphone. 'Big teeth, too many eyes and they left out the part that it's the size of a fucking _house_' she said angrily. '…I don't know' she said after a pause, 'sorta like a Fyarl mated with a Kailiff… and then their kid got knocked up by a fucking _dinosaur_.'

Connor sized the thing up. 'Tell them it's at least twenty-five feet tall, maybe ten tons in weight' he said calmly unlocking the folding metal stock on the shotgun, snapping it into place, as a rule he much preferred edged weapons or his fists but the notion of punching something well over four times his height was just insane. He had sounded a lot less scared than he felt, he was glad to hear, Connor had been worried there would be a tremor in his voice but his tone said he was steady and in control even if his instincts were screaming at him to run like hell.

A steady _click click_ next to him told Connor that Rona was loading her own shotgun but he sure as hell wasn't going to take his eyes off the demon to check. He'd heard a story from Gunn once about him and Wesley taking on something _nearly_ as tall in a sewer once but this thing wasn't going to go down to a sword thrust and an axe in the skull, it looked like they'd bounce off its hide for a start.

'No it's a bit late to think about not provoking it' Kennedy practically hissed into her cellphone, '… no Connor threw a grenade at it… not much but it _does_ look pretty pissed' she continued with her half of the conversation. 'They say to try running away' she told the others rolling her eyes.

'Inspired leadership from the top' Rona said bitterly. 'Jesus Christ that thing is big' she said. 'Why isn't it chasing us?'

'Sizing us up' Connor replied. 'If we run we're prey' he added.

'And if we _don't_ run?' Rona asked.

Connor took a deep breath to steady his nerves and his aim. 'Then when it makes its move we're _easily caught_ prey.'

'So we're not thinking vegetarian?' Rona asked chambering a round in her own shotgun.

'You don't need teeth like that to eat lettuce' Connor replied evenly.

'Help's on the way' Kennedy said snapping her cellphone shut. 'So what's the plan?' she asked grabbing a bandolier of shells from the back of the range rover and starting to load her own shotgun. The two newbie slayers were still just gaping at Amalfi, it was a hell of an introduction to the new job. One looked at her sword then to the demon, no fucking way, she thought.

'The plan?' Connor repeated, 'Okay I get it to chase me, you worry about the hundred Skilosh that are forming up behind it' Connor replied noting the comparatively tiny figures that were pouring out of the warehouse next to the huge demon. Normally they wouldn't be seen outside in daylight but they weren't too worried about being spotted by humans now, for one thing if there _were_ any bystanders they'd be overlooked because the behemoth next to them was a lot more eye-catching.

'Think you can outrun it?' Rona asked.

'If _I_ can't you sure as hell can't' Connor replied honestly, starting to move slowly away from the others. The thing was _definitely_ singling him out, moving its head slightly in response despite the fact it must have all-round vision from the six equidistant eyes that ringed its skull. The grenade must have stung a bit at least, even if he couldn't spot any real damage on the creature. 'We've got a hundred yard head-start' he continued. 'When I go this way' he said indicating off down the road to the junction then to the left, 'and it starts following me you go _that_ way' he said cocking his head in the other direction 'Make sure you don't provoke it and watch out for the Skilosh.'

'We can handle them' Kennedy replied. 'Just don't get caught, because _I'm_ not explaining to your Dad why you're Demonzilla chow.'

Connor smiled. 'I'm lean meat, low in cholesterol and with that little hint of vampire for extra tang' he replied. 'Back in the Quartoth you wouldn't believe how many things tried to make dinner out of me and I'm still here' he told her. 'At least I don't have to worry about it sneaking up on me' he pointed out reasonably.

'Good luck anyway Connor' Rona told him.

Ready to make his move, Connor took careful aim. Normally you wouldn't use a shotgun at a fraction of this range but the solid core Brenneke Rounds were still reasonably effective at this distance, they had specially shaped tiny fins cast into them to spin them in flight for accuracy and you certainly couldn't hope for a bigger target. They wouldn't be going fast enough to do much damage at a hundred yards, certainly not to something like _that_, but they should at least attract some attention.

'Tell Buffy she owes Wes an apology for saying we didn't need to get an anti-tank gun' Connor said wryly and switched his shotgun over from pump to semi-automatic fire.

Connor pulled the trigger eight times fast, the SPAS-12 could empty itself in two seconds in semi-auto and he had plenty of strength to handle the recoil as the weapons metal stock punched back into his shoulder rapidly and repeatedly. The shotgun roared and the solid core slugs hurtled towards the huge demon one after another.

They would have likely blown a hole through a man but they bounced clean off what they _did_ hit. It's hide must be like armour, hell it could be six inches thick Connor considered.

'MEEP MEEP' Connor yelled, turned and ran for his life holding the shotgun in one hand and the bandolier of shells bouncing against him as he took off down the road.

The beast of Amalfi roared and started chasing. It was the sheer temerity of defiance from such a puny creature that provoked it rather than any actual harm, although that explosive device _had_ stung a bit.

Kennedy watched it intently, making mental notes on what they were facing. Interestingly Amalfi wasn't actually _that_ fast, not if you thought of it in human scale anyway, if it was a person you'd say it was barely jogging, however given its strides were so long, a slow pace still had it doing upwards of thirty miles an hour, considerably faster than an Olympic Sprinter flat out.

Fortunately for Connor he could leave Michael Jordan standing, even if he wasn't being chased by something that was putting cracks in the asphalt as it ran. The added motivation really helped his form some. The loud thump of clawed foot onto roadway behind him gave the teenager just the impetus he needed.

Kennedy waited for a couple of seconds until she was sure it was _definitely_ chasing Connor and wasn't about to veer off their way instead, big as a house, dumb as a rock, she thought then with a barked order to the others she started sprinting the opposite direction to Connor with the other three in tow having loaded her own shotgun with buckshot for dealing with the Skilosh. She didn't know how long Connor could keep ahead of the thing but one problem at a time.

The two other Slayers of Rona's party appeared from around the other side of the warehouse and just caught enough of a glimpse of Amalfi disappearing down the road to stop dead in their tracks and gape before Kennedy screamed at them to get moving.

Five Slayers were not going to beat twenty-to-one odds shotguns or not, the Skilosh had already started to chase them as soon as the huge demon had begun to pursue Connor. However they had a plan for this kind of situation well the hundred ordinary sized demons thing anyway.

Kennedy led them into an alley then called a halt turning to face the pursuing Skilosh the other three Slayers with Shotguns lining up beside her and the two with swords staying behind.

Rona fired first, her solid shots outranging the buckshot the others were using and she gunned down several Skilosh before they got within the forty yard effective range of the other shotguns.

Kennedy and the other two slayers began firing, emptying their shotguns into the horde of onrushing Skilosh who were screaming battle cries and calls for Amalfi and victory. The buckshot tore vicious wounds in the front ranks of the demons but they kept coming.

The shotguns clicked empty. 'Run!' Kennedy yelled and the six girls sprinted away from the mob easily outdistancing them. They might not be quite as fast as Connor but for a slayer outrunning a Skilosh was easy.

Two hundred yards further on Kennedy stopped again and quickly reloaded as did the others. It wasn't a residential neighbourhood but someone was going to hear all the commotion and call the cops. That was all they needed, a couple of LAPD squad cars arriving in the middle of a slayer vs. demon fight would certainly raise a few questions. Chances were the cops in Los Angeles were still trying to get to grips with the rain of fire and the still completely unexplained blocking out of the sun a couple of months back.

'Fire' Kennedy ordered as soon as the Skilosh closed the gap and once again they cut down the front ranks of the demons, the ones behind clambering over their bodies to try to get to the Slayers.

Shotguns clicked empty, the slayers ran again, stopped, reloaded and fired again once their pursuers caught up.

By the _fourth_ time they went through the routine the Skilosh realised they were being _really_ fucking stupid and that the slayers were not only too fast to catch, between them they were hauling a lot more ammunition than there were Skilosh to shoot with it. The humans were completely without honour for fighting this way, cowardly staying out of the reach of their enemies, but you couldn't say it wasn't working for them, they'd gunned down at least half the Clan already and a lot of the ones still on their feet were carrying some buckshot.

'We are throwing away lives that belong to our master Amalfi not ourselves' one of the Skilosh declared. Whether its words were motivated by devotion, or the fact it had a painful number of small pieces of lead in its right arm, was largely irrelevant. It did have a valid point, the humans were probably laughing at them by now. 'We must rejoin him' it declared to its kin.

'Agreed' the most Senior responded. 'Amalfi will crush these weaklings when he sees fit' it said. 'Follow me' it ordered and began running back towards where they had started.

Kennedy watched them go. 'Could be an ambush' she said. 'I think we killed off the stupider ones already' she opined.

'We need to help Connor' Rona told her.

'How?' one of the others asked holding up her shotgun. 'These aren't going to stop that thing' she pointed out. 'We need something a lot meaner.'

Kennedy sighed. Girl made a good point.

The surviving Skilosh ran back to the warehouse, at least Amalfi would be easy to track, it left cracks in the road wherever it went.

**Reseda – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Connor ran. He could probably keep this speed up for another couple of miles but after that he'd be slowing down, his endurance was extreme not limitless. The problem was that he couldn't drop into a slow and steady pace because the thing chasing him was only slightly slower than he was and it _was_ running a slow and steady pace by comparison. It just had legs longer than he was tall.

Well at least he had an audience Connor thought as he emerged onto a street with some traffic on it and almost immediately had to jump over a car to avoid being run over. Until now he'd deliberately tried to avoid people, almost running in a circle for a while along empty streets, but eventually he just had to run into people sometime, it was daylight in a city of four million plus people.

The car screeched to a halt and the driver started to scream at him when ten tons of demon emerged from the side street Connor had come from and promptly knocked the car aside sending it spinning into another vehicle as it chased the skinny youth down the road.

This is_ so_ going to be on the news, Connor thought to himself as he kept moving ignoring the reaction of both pedestrians and car drivers to the gigantic creature that was literally hell-bent on squashing him like a bug.

'Just get out of its way' Connor yelled as loud as he could. This was a really bad idea he thought, I've got to get it to chase me away from these people, what if it decides to stop for a rest and a snack?

'Is this a movie?' someone yelled at him. 'Is it a hologram? Where's the cameras?' the man asked looking around. He thought they put the special effects in after the film was shot but maybe this was a new SFX technique. You got used to film crews in LA but that monster looked really fake he thought.

'No it's a real fucking demon' Connor yelled back, keeping on the move. It was frankly astonishing that the people of this planet could live in a world so full of demons and magic and remain almost wholly unaware of it. Connor did wonder sometimes if there were some sort of all-compassing spell or conspiracy at work but something he'd heard once rang more true. "Never assume malevolence when stupidity explains the situation just as well". Certainly Connor had seen overwhelming evidence of stupidity in the people here look at the popularity of reality TV for a start.

Amalfi continued to pursue, it wasn't just a matter of pride, it was also the first exercise it had gotten for a very long time and the tiny creature it was chasing was giving the beast a nice tour of the area as well as an opportunity to use long neglected muscles. The small human creatures had moulded the world to their desires Amalfi noted, it was filled with their buildings and machines and the smell was simply indescribable, there must be untold millions of them just ripe for a long overdue culling. They had a simply hideous lack of eyes too which badly offended his aesthetic sense, could you even have decent depth perception with only the two eyes it wondered.

Cars swerved out of the way except for one unfortunate VW Beetle which Amalfi stepped on crushing the front of the vehicle and needless to say scaring the life out of the occupant. Connor kept moving, maybe another eye or two would be useful he thought, if I was a Skilosh at least I could see what was going on behind me, he considered hearing the screams and sounds of squealing tyres and rending metal in the wake of his passing.

Were those footsteps behind him getting closer or was he just starting to freak out? Connor wondered, accelerating slightly just in case. He was starting to get out of breath but Amalfi was apparently still fresh enough to roar at him occasionally.

Connor reached a crossroads, immediately decided which direction was the least busy and headed that way. For a second he got a flashback to being thirteen and getting chased down a canyon by a pair of oversized reptilian demons with six inch claws and poisoned fangs, happy memories… he'd give anything to be back there right now.

'There's no place like home, there's no place like home' Connor yelled. If he'd had time to stop he would have tried knocking his sneakers together too.

And to think they called _Quartoth_ the Hell Dimension!

Where the hell was an obnoxious blue-haired Demon God or a sarcastic short blond slayer with a shiny red scythe when you really needed them?

There were sirens in the distance but getting closer. Hopefully the cops had the brains not to shoot at the thing when they arrived because it was already kinda cranky already.

Connor put his free hand into his pocket as he continued to run and started to reload his shotgun with Brenneke Slugs one at a time. At a hundred yards they bounced off, maybe he'd have more luck at say… ten? Hopefully he wouldn't have to try though, but if the cops arrived he'd have to save them by getting Amalfi's attention fully focused back in his direction.

He hoped Kennedy was alright and he kept running.

**Warehouse – Reseda – Los Angeles – July 2003**

A flash of light heralded a new arrival just as they got back to where the great beast had begun its pursuit of the skinny human male that dared to try to injure their new master. A small human figure with red hair simply winked into existence right in front of the demon pack and looked at them with widening eyes.

The trouble with magical teleportation, Willow considered, finding herself face to face with fifty Skilosh as she flashed in, is that you have to go alone. Even Anya who had been a far more accomplished teleporter in her demon days couldn't bring along a passenger and Willow was far from well practised at this. Fortunately they were as surprised as she was and the demons just looked back at the witch rather than immediately leaping to the attack.

A black vortex appeared a few yards behind Willow and started to grow quickly, the one that summoned it was using the witch as an aiming point for accuracy being able to sense and locate the momentary tear in reality her arrival had caused. Teleportation is quick, uses less power and has numerous other advantages, however if you portal you _can_ bring company.

The vortex was four yards across when it spat out five figures and then closed behind them. It was a darn site quicker than trying to drive across LA to get here Buffy thought finding herself looking at Willow and a crapload of Skilosh. Illyria was the last one through the portal, holding it open for the others, and was therefore the last one out, finding herself standing behind Faith. The more people she bought through the more power she would have to use, which meant the less power she had available to use against Amalfi if necessary. Buffy had just grabbed the scythe and the three other non-blue people she thought would be the most use if things got nasty and Illyria portalled them all over. It was killing Angel not being able to come for his boy himself but the going out in daylight issue ruled him out of the list immediately.

'Willow would you mind moving to one side please' Wesley asked politely. 'You're in the line of fire' he told her raising his assault rifle, Vi doing likewise following his lead. They were both carrying G-36K's as proven in the field back in Sunnydale and had hundred-round drum magazines fitted for what Wesley called a nice spot of fully-automatic mayhem.

Buffy looked from Wesley standing slightly ahead to her left over to Vi on her right. Okay so they were both carrying machineguns, she thought, I'm the one with the scythe she considered changing her grip on the thing slightly. Vi was one of the most experienced of the new Slayers and was by far the best with a gun, Wesley was even better with a gun and despite being human had the magicks to fall back on if necessary so after Faith they had been Buffy's immediate choice to fill out the other two places.

'_If I move they'll attack_' Willow sent telepathically. In doing so she touched Illyria's mind which was unsurprisingly strange. For a split second she tried to probe further but was stopped dead by a wall in Illyria's mind and a definite impression that if she tried poking around any more she wouldn't like the result.

'_Then teleport out of the way and we'll use the flash as a distraction_' Wesley replied in thought. His mind was different to touch too, Willow noted, you could sense the Magicks just drifting in the background of his subconscious they were dark and familiar and more than a little enticing. She also got the feeling that if necessary he would shoot right through her if it meant achieving a greater good. Frankly Faith, although a murderer with serious psychological defects in her past, had a _far_ less disturbing mind to contact. '_Is this an open line can everyone else hear_?' he thought.

'_Well I can hear you Wes_. _Hey this conference call thing is cool_' Faith's voice spoke in his mind in response.

'_So you're like a telepathic telephone exchange_?' Vi thought. '_Do you do long distance or is it local calls only_?'

'_Only good for about a mile depending on how many other minds are around and how clearly you're thinking._' Willow replied. _'Any further than that and I get a migraine._'

'_Willow. Just as you teleport let us know and we'll put some fire down_' Wesley thought. '_Have you seen any sign of the others_?'

'_When I got here it was just me and the Skilosh_' Willow thought. They were still in a Mexican standoff the demons unwilling to make the first move having already lost so many and also wary of beings with the power to teleport and/or portal. You needed serious mojo to do that kind of thing and magic was best treated with respect. '_I can sense all of them as still alive but Connor is a long way off_.'

'_Can you try and contact them?_' Buffy queried.

'_I can do better than that_' Willow thought back. '_Kennedy you're on an open line let's not think anything you'll be embarrassed about later_.'

'_Hi guys_' Kennedy's thoughts introduced themselves. '_We're all okay but Amalfi is chasing Connor_. _We fought off a crapload of Skilosh and the rest stopped chasing us_.'

'_We're looking at the rest of them right now' _Buffy replied_ 'both sides waiting to see who makes the first move_' she continued. '_Which way did Connor go_?'

'_Follow the cracks in the roadway_' Kennedy replied. '_You wouldn't believe how big that thing is.'_

'_How much of a head-start do they have?_' Buffy asked.

'_At Connor's speed? Got to be miles by now_' Kennedy replied.

'_I will catch up_' Illyria thought. '_Buffy you will come with me, you must stick close by, I cannot generate a temporal bubble more than a couple of yards from my body. I will keep my pace within the field slow enough for you to keep up._'

'_We're going to do what now_?' Buffy thought back keeping an eye on the enemy. The Skilosh were still watching them nervously likely wondering what was going on, after the debacle chasing the other slayers they were likely expecting trickery and wondering if this was a trap so they bided their time.

'_I think Blue is going to do the Matrix thing_' Faith interjected, '_and you're going for a ride_' she thought. '_So I get to stay here and fight this lot with my sword and the riot-gun I borrowed from Wes_?'

'_They'll be a lot less of them after Wesley and I put two hundred rounds through them on full-auto_'Vi noted. '_At this range we'll be blowing holes right through_.'

'_Just hose back and forth_' Wesley thought.

'_Nice imagery_. _I just knew you had a filthy mind in there Wes_' Faith responded. '_You going to be in this Red?_' she added. '_The fight I mean, not Wes's fantasies though I'll bet if you dug around in that big brain you'd find yourself in a few_.'

'_I'm only teleporting a few yards out of the way I'm not leaving you_' Willow pointed out. '_As for Wesley's fantasy's I don't want to know_.'

'_He is quite imaginative_' Illyria thought. '_His diaries were surprisingly erotic_ _at times_.'

'_Enough!_' Wesley's thoughts screamed into the ether. '_This is a life or death situation_.'

'_He's right'_ Buffy agreed. '_We'll make him embarrassed and uncomfortable later._ _Okay everyone, ready to go on three, two, one…'_

Willow teleported in another flash of light, Faith jumped to one side raising her pistol-grip pump-action shotgun working the slide, two carbine assault rifles started blazing and Illyria raised her hand to warp the universe to her will.

Watched in slow-motion from inside the time distortion with Illyria Buffy had to admit it all looked _really_ cool.


	12. Chapter 12

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

**Warehouse – Reseda – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Everything stopped, well not really you could still detect the barest hint of movement but it was glacial at best. Even the supersonic bullets streaming from Vi and Wesley's machineguns towards the Skilosh were moving slow enough that Buffy could have caught them out of the air easily if she had tried.

Willow's teleportation always _seemed_ completely instantaneous but turning around Buffy could see that she was slowly reappearing, become more solid in form as she jumped from one point in space from her previous position in front of Vi and Wesley to another behind them where she wouldn't get shot. I am so bringing a video camera along next time I get to do this Buffy decided.

Moving in real time Illyria grabbed Buffy by the shoulder, well she wasn't _really_ moving in real time, only from the slayers perspective. Like Buffy she was actually going incredibly fast while everything else continued as normal. The God King was powerful but she couldn't slow down the whole universe, it was much easier just to speed a tiny part of it up and the subjective results were exactly the same.

Illyria started to move, Buffy following keeping a firm grip on the scythe as she broke into a run to keep up and stay close. At least the trail was easy to follow, Connor didn't need to leave breadcrumbs, cracked and cratered asphalt and concrete paving slabs were more than sufficient evidence of Amalfi's pursuit. If Connor was already a few miles ahead it would take a while to catch up, well it would from Buffy's standpoint, in reality it would be measured in seconds to an outside observer. Back in Sunnydale Buffy had once heard Illyria leave a sonic boom in her wake doing this time thing, her speed relative to the outside world having gone through the sound barrier when she ran flat out.

It dawned on Buffy that if Illyria sprinted and she did likewise they would be literally faster than a speeding bullet. She doubted they were as powerful as a locomotive though… well maybe together? As to leaping tall buildings in a single bound Illyria might at least be able to throw her over a small one?

They left the fight behind them looking for a bigger one.

**Tarzana – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Crossing Ventura Boulevard had certainly been fun Connor decided, practically suicidal given the speed of the traffic flowing on it but you couldn't say it was boring dodging speeding traffic and he knew he was an adrenaline junkie. Of course the drivers were probably a _lot_ more interested in the thing chasing him rather than the skinny teenager with the shotgun. He could hear the screech of brakes and the sounds of collisions behind him as he kept moving, turning the next available corner into a quieter road. It was fortunate that very few people actually walk in LA because at least the pedestrian count was low in case the demon decided to grab a snack, it was perfectly capable of ripping off the roof of a car if necessary but for the most part it was still very much focused on him. You had to give it to Amalfi, Connor thought, the thing had plenty of endurance and even more persistence to still be chasing him despite the distance they'd covered, not to mention the other distractions like the hundreds of bystanders that must have seen them by now.

A police car tore around the next corner directly into Connors path and two patrolmen jumped out pulling their service automatics pointing them straight at him. It dawned on Connor that he was running down a very nice residential street carrying a shotgun and that this would be seen in a bad light.

'Drop the gun and put your hands on your head' one of the cops yelled at him. Not wanting to get shot by the LAPD any more than he wanted to get eaten by a demon Connor complied, stopped dead in his tracks and let his shotgun drop to the ground.

'_I'm_ not your problem' Connor yelled back. '_That's_ your problem' he said turning as Amalfi turned into the road saw he was standing there and roared.

Both the patrolmen had seen some weird stuff in their time on the force, especially during those "disturbances" when it rained fire, the sun got blocked out and the homicide rate in LA went astronomical, but this was a whole new one on them.

'Don't shoot at it' Connor warned them. 'You'll just make it mad' he advised, 'it's only chasing me I'm trying to lead it away from people.'

Amalfi stopped running and began pounding at walking pace towards them, immense strides still making up ground fast. The two small creatures seem to have stopped its quarry, who were they to interfere with the hunt? Though sentient the Beast of Amalfi was a predator, it enjoyed the chase and had not hunted for so many aeons.

One of the cops collected his thoughts enough to use his radio. 'Dispatch this is 7-Victor-25' requesting urgent assistance' he began as his partner redirected his aim from Connor to the demon.

'Those pistols won't even go through its skin' Connor said. 'Don't be stupid just let me go.'

'What the hell is it?' the cop not using his radio asked.

'You're pretty close on hell' Connor replied. 'It's a demon' he told him. 'It's chasing me because I shot at it earlier, unless you can run five miles in ten minutes like I can don't piss it off because I bet it's already worked up an appetite.'

'SWAT is on its way' the other cop said.

'Oh yeah that'll help' Connor responded sarcastically. 'Are they carrying rocket launchers now?' he asked rolling his eyes. 'Let me go and don't interfere, I've got my own backup coming and they _can_ handle shit like this' he said hoping he was right about that.

'Stay right where you are' the other cop ordered.

'If you don't let me go we are all going to _die_' Connor told him seriously. 'It'll kill us then it'll start killing everything it sees, that's how these things are, we're just food.'

'What are we going to do Dave?' one of the cops asked the other. This situation was so far outside their experience they couldn't get their heads around it. It was like a movie, things like this didn't happen in real life. All the talk in the station about monsters in the sewers and what those gangs really were that were on the streets during the weird eclipse thing a few months back was just bullshit right?

'I'm going' Connor said. 'Either shoot me or don't but I'm going' he told them turning from the demon to look at them.

Another patrol car screamed into the road behind Amalfi and slammed on the brakes stopping perhaps thirty yards behind.

Connor looked one of the Cops in the eye. Oh shit, he thought seeing what was there.

The Cop pulled the trigger on his pistol, a split second later so did his partner, the two of them firing again and again at Amalfi, emptying their standard issue 9mm Berreta pistols into the huge Demon.

It was like firing paintballs at it, except that paintballs would have left a lot more evidence of where they hit.

The two cops from the other patrol car started firing too, one of them with a riot gun. What the hell he thought buckshot would achieve Connor couldn't begin to guess but he assumed the guy was just too shocked to think straight.

Amalfi moved, faster than Connor had seen it do before and a fist that must have weighed a quarter of a ton came smashing down hard leaving the Cop it landed on a bloody pulp on the ground. The body wasn't even recognisable as human any more it was practically a smear on the asphalt.

The other Cop who had stopped him froze, scared out of his mind. This couldn't be real, it _couldn't _be real.

Another gun roared, this time Amalfi felt it and ignored the second cop turning to Connor who had snatched up his shotgun and had fired it point blank into the demons chest.

Connor kept firing. 'Run you idiots' he screamed at the other cops but they did nothing. After eight shots his shotgun ran dry, the big Brenneke Solid-Shots had at least broken the things skin fired from this range but Connor didn't think they had gone anywhere near deep enough to do any actual damage. They would have stopped a bear in its tracks, against Amalfi they were a futile gesture.

'Never thought I'd be homesick for the Quartoth' Connor said letting his shotgun drop to the ground again and wishing he carried a broadsword like his father instead of his knife. At least then he would have at least had a chance to cut on the thing a bit before he got squished.

Connor could see faces at the windows of the houses nearby, well at least he wasn't going to be forgotten. The last stand of the skinny kid that grew up on the bad side of the dimensional rift he thought grinning to himself.

On the upside at least I'll never have to deal with the Kennedy thing he thought to himself and drew his serrated edged hunting knife. 'Okay let's go' he yelled defiantly up at the demon.

**Warehouse – Reseda – Los Angeles – July 2003**

With a flash of light Willow disappeared, Buffy and Illyria became a blur and Wesley pulled the trigger on his rifle, Vi doing likewise a split second later.

The two assault rifles sliced into the mass of Skilosh, at this range the bullets simply punched straight through the first demon they struck and kept going, often slamming into any that were behind as well despite the fact they were designed to tumble and create more vicious wounds when they hit someone which slowed them down considerably. The G36 was sighted out to eight-hundred metres and was being fired at things closer to eight, some of the stray rounds would be blowing holes in walls at this distance let alone demons.

Vi was a lot stronger than Wesley and had no trouble holding her rifle steady, easily holding down the rifle despite the weapons tendency to jump around when fired on fully-automatic. She simply hosed a stream of bullets at chest height into the mob and cut a slew through them as they started to counter-attack in response. With a rate of fire of seven hundred and fifty rounds a minute she exhausted the entire hundred round drum magazine in eight seconds flat and did so while walking backwards. Wesley took longer to run out because he was firing long bursts then adjusting his aim instead of just emptying the thing and by the time he ran out Vi had dropped her rifle and was pulling a pair of twin pistols from the shoulder holsters she had on, it wasn't a time to think about reloading.

Faith was firing into the mob with the Mossberg Pump she had loaned from Wesley. She wasn't a good shot but at this range you didn't need to be, certainly not firing buckshot into a crowd. She still preferred to use her fists or a blade but had to admit that these things were growing on her especially the little chromed pistol-gripped thing she was using here. It just had close-up mayhem written all over it and despite her mended ways Faith still relished in the chaos and aggression, she was never going to be _that _reformed. The shiny new reminted Faith LeHane was just directing her violence impulses towards those more deserving of it these days, the underlying current of her personality would still wash you away towards the maelstrom.

Two hundred rounds of 5.56mm NATO had shattered the Skilosh rank but there were so _many _of them and anything not completely fatal or immobilising just slowed them down at best so it was just starting, not the end of things.

Wesley felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up just as he dropped his empty rifle and Vi started firing her automatics. Magic was in the air, hot flaming magic to be exact as a fireball shot past his head and caught the closest Skilosh full in the chest blowing it backwards and taking those nearby with it.

He didn't need to turn around, he knew that Willow was channelling something dark, he could feel it enticing him to come along for the ride. He shook it off, Willow could play with dark magic, she was strong enough to do so without risking herself, but if he dabbled he'd get burned if only metaphorically unlike the next unfortunate Skilosh that caught the next fireball. Anyhow he had other ways to do harm he thought drawing his .45s and opening up as he moved backwards as Vi was doing as she continued to fire her Glocks. Wesley resisted the urge to glance over at Vi, the Skilosh falling to her pistols told the story well enough, she was a prodigy, a natural, the apple of his eye. If she would only give up that ridiculous woollen hat she still wore sometimes, even on patrol, it just didn't suit the image of the best shot in slayerdom he thought firing his own guns, placing his shots carefully and deliberately, never missing, a killshot each time.

Faith and Vi, Wesley thought happily, _my_ slayers, not Rupert's, they were _mine_, and when Buffy wanted the two meanest girls to take as backup who did she choose? It was enough to make you proud he thought, although he had to admit that Buffy had never tied Giles to a chair and tortured him which did colour his relationship with Faith slightly even if they did have a rapport these days, Vi and his mild disapproval of her odd taste in headwear rather paled in comparison. Oh well can't expect perfection, Wesley decided putting a round between the eyes of a charging Skilosh, they were certainly very different personalities, the fiery outwardly ultra-confident but inwardly insecure Faith and the seemingly timid Vi who Wesley had learned had a core of steel underneath even if she still had trouble looking Spike in the eye for some reason.

With Willow still firing fireball after fireball Wesley dropped the pistol in his right hand and with his now free hand reloaded the other one. Vi had already done likewise and was emptying another clip of .357 SIG ammunition into the enemy.

'Having fun Wes?' Faith asked dropping the now empty shotgun, she only had a few shells in her pockets and had run out fast. She pulled a knife from her jacket and held it in her left hand.

'Better than sex' Wesley replied deadpan as he fired his pistol.

'Remind me to give Blue some tips because she really can't be doing it right' Faith replied as Wesley's pistol fell silent again and he reloaded once more, he wanted a full clip ready now things were going to get up close and personal.

The Skilosh surged as Wesley and Faith both held out their empty right hands and collapsible swords extended almost in unison.

Okay so this _was _pretty fun, Faith thought, it still wasn't a patch on sex though.

**Tarzana – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Amalfi ignored the pitiful bullets and shotgun cartridges being fired into his back and raised his gigantic clawed fist to the tiny creature that was actually trying to menace him with a blade that was far smaller than one of his own teeth.

A blur streaked past and solidified into two solid shapes no more than a handful of yards from Amalfi who immediately spun to face them. He felt power, _real_ power.

'The Slayer Kennedy did not exaggerate the size of this creature' Illyria noted dispassionately. 'I will require an unusually large pike to be manufactured in order to mount its head on my trophy wall in Vahla Ha'Nesh.'

Buffy took a breath, 'Purebreed Demon?' she asked looking up at it clutching the scythe for psychological support as much as anything else.

'Yes. You have faced one before?' Illyria queried.

'The old Mayor of Sunnydale became one' Buffy replied. 'They're a lot bigger than the regular kind.'

Amalfi roared, or at least it seemed like a roar but Illyria responded in a similar fashion though without the volume her lungs just couldn't match it. The roars must be a language Buffy thought. 'You speak that? What did he say?' she asked.

'The language is a degenerate form of the speech of my era which I can still understand though its grammar and accent are appalling' Illyria replied. 'It says it has never before met an Old One and that I am much shorter than it was expecting' she continued.

Buffy grinned despite herself 'What did you say back?' she asked.

'There is no easy translation for the exact wording, the basic concepts of the language are too different, but the closest approximation in _intent_ would be that I told it to go fuck itself' Illyria replied evenly causing Buffy's grin to widen. 'It is radiating power that will not let me alter the flow of time nearby' Illyria continued, 'we will have to do this the old fashioned way' she said. All three of the Cops were staring at them mouths agape and Illyria could feel that they were being observed from all sides. 'Many humans are watching' she noted.

Buffy nodded. 'Then let's give them a show' she replied. 'No offence Blue but even with your punch I don't think you're equipped for this' she said changing her grip on the scythe. 'This is a job for red, shiny and sharpy here' she said.

Illyria snorted and held out her right hand, a small portal only a couple of feet across opened and she reached inside took hold of something and took several sidesteps to the left. 'It is much easier to do this than carry the weapon with me, it is quite unwieldy' she told the Slayer, closing the portal and raising the ridiculously oversized "sword" she had used to beat Glory into submission. The thing usually resided in the basement of the Hyperion, Illyria must have just reached in and took it off the concrete blocks it rested on. She could open portals _very_ precisely to anywhere she had previously been and the size of the thing it _would_ have been awkward to carry around.

Between the armour, the blue hair and skin patches, the crystalline eyes and the sharpened I-Beam as a weapon Illyria was certainly ahead in the showmanship stakes. Well at least I've got a better figure Buffy decided, and the blue hair and dominatrix look was far less universally appealing than blond and peppy.

Illyria dropped into a fighting stance. 'I will attack from the left, you go right.'

'The bigger they are the harder they fall right?' Buffy replied getting ready to move.

'In my experience the bigger they are the harder they hit you' Illyria replied honestly. 'Be careful, my armour and greater strength would likely enable me to survive a blow from this creature but even a glancing blow would likely shatter every bone in your body' she advised.

'Concern for my wellbeing?' Buffy asked readying herself for battle.

'I cannot wield the scythe and there are no other slayers nearby to do so' Illyria replied moving slowly around the beast. 'I would rather not have to combat this creature without its assistance.'

'Thank God for that' Buffy replied with a smile 'I thought you were going soft on us' she continued as she circled to the left. Amalfi didn't have to turn to watch them both but it had to decide which was the greater threat the Old One or the power it felt from the slayer weapon and orientate its body accordingly.

Illyria took the hilt of her sword in both hands getting ready to swing it. Between its mass, her own strength and the enchantments placed upon it by the Guardian, it might even hit hard enough to make Amalfi sit up and take notice. 'God-_King_' Illyria yelled and dived into the attack.


	13. Chapter 13

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

**Tarzana – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Illyria swung the sharpened I-Beam, it was half again as long as she was tall and weighed as much as a small car but she handled it like it was made of hollow plastic instead of solid steel. This was the weapon that she had used to batter the Hellgod Glory into submission, it was the epitome of the brute force approach to problem solving, but nobody, no _entity_, had ever accused the God-King of the Primordium of taking the subtle route when there was a quicker and ideally more violent method available. It wasn't mindless violence, Illyria wasn't stupid or out of control, she just liked hitting things, it was cathartic, moreover it was a great deal of fun and she hadn't gotten to beat the crap out of something actually _worth_ beating the crap out of in _months_.

Amalfi had much better reaction times than you would expect from a being of its size and it immediately shifted its weight and raised an arm to parry away the blow. The demon was not stupid either, and despite the Old Ones diminutive size it knew this was going to hurt and needless to say it did. In power-to-weight ratio terms Illyria was towards the top of the scale, far eclipsing such as the slayers who were barely four or five times as strong as a mere human, well if the human were a world class powerlifter anyhow. As one of the God-Kings associates commented not completely in jest, the Blue Meanie floated like a butterfly but she stung like a B-52.

Illyria's almost comically oversized weapon was deflected away from its target, which had been Amalfi's torso, but it still had plenty of kinetic energy most of which was imparted into Amalfi's left arm and it stung something fierce causing the thirty-odd foot tall demon to grimace baring a lot of very large, very sharp jagged teeth in the process.

The Old One kept moving with the sword stroke turning in place doing a complete 360 bringing her weapon back into line with Amalfi and with a smile on her face. The demon prepared to strike back before the little blue bitch could hit him with that thing again. Of course what it _should_ have been doing was worrying instead about what the tiny mortal with the sharp shiny red thing was up to in the meanwhile.

Buffy had let Illyria draw the things ire as it were, slayers were tough but she wouldn't survive the damage from a blow from something that size especially something that size with enhanced demon strength, also if Amalfi was distracted it would give her the chance to get in some decent damage before it realised just how much harm _she_ could inflict too.

The scythe wasn't just powerful in itself, it enhanced the power of the slayer wielding it too and having lived a lot longer than most slayers ever managed Buffy was already amongst the most dangerous slayers that have ever walked the Earth. Feeling its energy flowing through her Buffy darted in and slashed the back of Amalfi's right leg with all her might. The enchanted and razor sharp blade bit in deep with all her strength put into it and it cut far enough in to go all the way through the demons skin even though it was inches thick and tougher than crocodile hide. It locked hard and Buffy had to yank it back out with brute force, tearing it back out of Amalfi's flesh spraying herself with thick greenish-brown blood as she did so.

Amalfi howled and swung an arm to try and swat the slayer as Buffy rolled out of the way. The scale of the injury to its size was minimal but if you slashed a human with a razor blade they wouldn't enjoy the experience much either. They wouldn't enjoy someone immediately cracking them on the knee with a crowbar either which is basically what Illyria did in relative terms as she swung her I-Beam against Amalfi again as he reacted to Buffy's attack. It made a great sound as the steel cracked into bone and cartilage. The sheer shock of the blow ran back up the steel and jarred Illyria who had to strengthen her grip on the weapon as she quickly shifted to avoid a possible countermove.

'Try and slash its tendons' Illyria called out as Amalfi rocked with the impact to its knee and Buffy used the opportunity to get out of reach.

Easier said than done, Buffy thought as she rolled upright, turning and raising the scythe ready to strike again, the beast was gigantic, simply cutting through the skin was hard enough, getting the scythe in deep enough to tear up its muscles or tendons was a tall order. The slayer weapon could slice through demon flesh like a knife through butter but this time the butter was a lot thicker than the knife was long, it just wasn't able to get far enough in unless she hacked or practically sawed through the flesh and it was highly doubtful to say the least that Amalfi would stay still and compliantly let her do that. It was going to be death by a thousand cuts, not a few choice blows that would win this.

I hope someone in one of those houses is filming this, Buffy thought, because I'd love to have this fight on DVD to show people. The only thing better would be Buffy Vs. Godzilla she thought moving into the attack once again.

**Warehouse – Reseda – Los Angeles – July 2003**

The old standard hack and slash, Wesley thought nostalgically, swinging his collapsible sword around and slashing open the throat of the nearest Skilosh. He'd replied on his guns, and the occasional foray into magic for quite a while and it was nice to return to the basics he decided dropping the empty pistol in his other hand after firing his last shot right into the face of another demon the hollow-point bullet expanding as it went through and blowing most of the back of its head off including its third eye.

Faith was in her element, she liked to play up close and personal and with Slayer strength, her own collapsible sword in one hand and a large knife in her left she was cleaving through the Skilosh ranks far more effectively than Wesley could hope to emulate, he was just well practiced, she was a Slayer and had strength, speed and reactions he couldn't hope to match.

Not everyone was playing the short game though, Willow kept her distance and was still generating and firing fireballs into the opposition whilst keeping clear of the melee battle itself. She could use her magicks to give herself inhuman strength, once during her "Dark Willow" phase she had given Buffy a good run for her money in the physical combat stakes but she could do more damage like this, and she didn't have to embrace the darkness to anything like the same degree either.

Both of Vi's twin Glock Automatics had run dry seconds before and lacking a collapsible sword of her own she had pulled a short-sword from her belt and in lieu of another weapon a very nasty set of spiked brass knuckles for her other hand. Wes hadn't just taught her and the others to shoot, with Faiths assistance he'd also been running extra-curricular classes for those girls interested in knowing how to fight _unbelievably_ dirty and she wanted to show him what a keen student she was. Vi waded into the Skilosh using her sword as it was supposed to be used, as a thrusting weapon slamming the blade into the guts then ripping it upwards to "open the bastard up good and proper" as Wesley had described it. Her brass knuckles and slayer strength smashed teeth and noses and cracked jaws without effort or mercy, this was what she had trained for, what her purpose in life was, slayers slew, death really was their gift.

Vi and Faith found themselves fighting with Wesley semi-sheltered between them as the weakest point in the line. They were already splattered with blood and gore and the ground was littered with Skilosh corpses. It wasn't a wholesome gentle life but it wasn't a wholesome gentle world either, the demonic barbarians were at the gate and they were the gatekeepers, or as Giles had quoted George Orwell "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm". Faith had insisted on substituting "hot chicks with superpowers" with "rough men" but the intent was very much the same, they were the chosen ones, _somebody_ had to stop assholes like this using human beings like an Ichneumon Wasp uses a caterpillar, as a host for its larvae killing it in the process.

Faith heard a familiar battle cry, Kennedy must rehearse that or something, she thought, because she did it really well as the slayer led the five other girls with her back into the action hitting the skilosh from the other direction swords and knives in hand. Now this was how you did it Faith thought yelling a battle cry of her own, eight slayers in the game now and the Skilosh were already whittled down to a handful.

Faith drove her forehead into a demons face, smashing its nose to pieces in a vicious headbutt, and wondered how B and the Smurf were getting on with the main event as she followed up the blow by opening up the things throat with her knife. Hopefully they were having fun too.

**Tarzana – Los Angeles – July 2003**

A loud report echoed in the residential street, Buffy turned to see that Connor had retrieved and reloaded his shotgun and was now trying to make his presence felt again. 'Aim for the eyes' Buffy yelled at him.

'That's what _I_ am doing' Connor yelled back lining up his next shot. The bandolier of shotgun cartridges he'd picked up earlier had carried a mix of shells and he had reloaded with flechette rounds guessing that they'd be more likely to do damage. Even the things eyeballswere probably too tough for buckshot at any range he wanted to be at, he had decided, but the little clusters of metal darts in the flechette loads might get the job done from a relatively safe distance. 'You know if you want to make yourselves useful here _you_ guys could help too' Connor told the closest of the three cops, who had been simply standing around gaping at the scene watching the two women, assuming the weird blue chick in the red leather gear actually _was_ a woman, fight the monster.

Connor fired again but Amalfi was constantly moving and instead of getting it in one of its eyes he shot a pattern of tiny darts into what he assumed was an earlobe. The cop that Connor had addressed looked at him then back to Amalfi before firing his automatic at the creature. 'Aim high' Connor told him. 'Try and shoot out its eyes like the girl said, anywhere else, and it won't even notice' he told him racking the shotgun and aiming again himself.

The tiny bullets whizzing past his head, some impacting harmlessly on its skin didn't even register with Amalfi, it was too busy trying to deal with the attacks coming from two sides from Buffy and Illyria. Every time it tried to move on the Old One the damn human slashed it with that weapon she was wielding and if it tried to get rid of the human it got another blow from the I-Beam. The demon tried to ignore one or the other and concentrate on one target at a time but they were both too quick to knock out of the fight before the damage the other was doing started to hurt. In many ways it was having trouble because they were _too_ small, it was hard to get to grips with the damn midgets. Unencumbered by anything as clumsy as an I-Beam Buffy was especially agile and found she could zip in, hack into the demon and get back out before she got stomped or crushed.

The other two Policeman joined in with the first and started firing at the monsters head, their line of fire angled too high to concern Buffy or Illyria, not that a bullet would be as dangerous to Illyria as Buffy but she would be irked if some human law-enforcement officer accidentally shot her. Having actually been shot before, almost dead as it happens, Buffy was less than happy about the notion too.

Amalfi tried a different tack and ignoring both Buffy and Illyria it stomped over to one of the Patrol Cars and with the two Policemen standing by it diving for cover it picked up the vehicle and held it overhead. Buffy and Illyria backed off, neither wanting to have three and a half thousand pounds of car dropped on them and knowing that more distance from Amalfi meant more time to dodge out of the way if the demon threw it at one of them.

'If this was a film we'd shoot out the gas tank' Connor noted wryly reloading his shotgun after several missed shots. Unfortunately in real life unless you were using tracer or incendiary rounds the thing would be highly unlikely to explode and nowhere near as impressively anyway.

'What… what the fuck is that thing? Who the fuck are you people?' one of the Cops yelled at Connor getting a firmer grip on reality as he shook off the sensory overload and the nagging suspicion this was just a really graphic and detailed nightmare.

'It's a Demon' Connor replied aiming his shotgun again. 'They don't usually come out during the day' he replied in a far more relaxed tone than the cops.

'They don't usually come that big either' Buffy observed keeping her eyes firmly on Amalfi. As soon as it threw that car she was either going to dive out of the way or give it another taste of scythey goodness.

'A demon? You mean like from Hell?' another of the three cops asked reloading his pistol. This wasn't what he joined the force to do, get smushed by a monster like an extra in a bad horror flick.

'Common misconception' Connor replied. '_Some_ of them come from Hell-Dimensions but lots of them are from right here. Fact is_ they_ were here before _we_ were. Illyria, the blue chick over there with the big sword, was the original Valley Girl, well a Vahla Ha'nesh Girl anyway… not that she was actually a_ girl_ back then' he added. 'As for who we are, well let's just say we're the ones that make the monsters too afraid to come out from under the bed… well most of them'

'Protecting the Earth from the scum of the multiverse' Buffy chimed in keeping her eyes firmly on Amalfi but unable to resist the quip, she wasn't above stealing lines that she'd heard Xander modify from films either. 'I think we're really blowing our secret identities here.'

'And us without our Neuralisers' Connor replied with a half grin. 'Oh come on you didn't think the raining fire, people drained of blood and the sun going out was _natural_ did you?' he asked the cop. 'Welcome to real life, it ain't what you thought it was' he told the cop.

Illyria roared something at Amalfi which must have really pissed it off whatever it meant, because it immediately threw the Police Car at her causing her to dive sideways to avoid it, barely avoiding the car and being forced to drop her sword in the process. Buffy sprinted in to draw the demons wrath and Connor started firing again finally getting a hit after two shots causing Amalfi to howl in pain as a pattern of flechettes ploughed into one of its eyes. The fact it had five more meant it wasn't exactly a decisive blow but at least he'd hurt the damn thing.

Amalfi lurched at Illyria, trying to get to her before she could retrieve her sword put kept a close eye, or eyes on the human with the scythe weapon. The insect bites from the human projectile weapons had finally managed to cause enough damage for him to notice but the eye wasn't destroyed only injured and would heal within hours until then Amalfi would keep that one closed, it still had all round vision, six eyes gave plenty of redundancy in the vision front.

As the human charged it Amalfi spun and swiped at it causing the diminutive figure to veer off for safety.

Illyria flipped herself to her feet and found herself looking up at a mountain of demon flesh with nothing but her fists as weaponry for now. Whatever force was emanating from the beast stopped her warping time, nor could she open a portal, it must come from a time when although the Old Ones were long gone there were still powerful demons with some of the ancient ways and it had evolved, or had learned to block them.

A huge fist crashed down as Amalfi stooped over to try and flatten her. Even without the ability to alter the flow of time around herself Illyria was still inhumanly fast and agile and with what looked like an effortless move she avoided the blow which shattered the asphalt where it landed making a small crater in the ground. Illyria feinted to go towards her abandoned sword which Amalfi moved to block and instead she darted between his legs and drove a fist as hard as she could into Amalfi's left kneecap, the gloves of her armour hardening into a steel-like gauntlet as she did. It was a blow with enough force to punch clean through a lesser-demon or shatter the jaw of even a slayer but it felt more like she had driven her fist into a fossilised tree-trunk, and the effects were none too impressive to say the least. Amalfi certainly grunted which meant he felt it but there wasn't the satisfying crack of something being broken inside there which was a shame. Crippled the demon would be much easier to subdue.

Amalfi tried to raise a foot to stomp her but again she was too fast to flatten leaping off in the other direction and spiralling into a stance that gave her the ability to move again in any direction, ready for the next move.

'Are you okay over there Blue?' Buffy called out, circling Amalfi feeling the things eyes on her at all times as she did.

'I could avoid its clumsy attacks for millennia' Illyria replied confidently. 'However I cannot injure it without my sword either.'

'Can you keep it busy trying to splat you?' Buffy asked. 'You certainly seem to know just what to say to provoke it.'

Illyria jumped aside to avoid another attempted blow from the huge beast. 'I will have to teach you some of the old tongue' she said, 'the swearwords and insults available in English pale into insignificance' she declared. 'When it goes for me again try and motivate it to move away from my sword so I can retrieve it.'

'Motivate?' Buffy questioned. 'You mean cut a chunk out of it right?'

'I suggest you hold the scythe like an axe and hack off one of its toes that should prove sufficiently painful to produce the desired result' Illyria replied. 'Connor you should run interference for Buffy and try to distract it further, it chased you for many miles it may still regard you as worth keeping an eye on.'

'It's got plenty to spare' Connor called back.

'Just because it can see from every eye does not mean it can concentrate on each visual impulse simultaneously' Illyria noted.

'Doesn't mean it _can't_ either' Buffy replied reasonably.

'No guts, no glory' Illyria declared apparently enjoying herself far more than was healthy.

'Easy for something to say that doesn't die like we do' Buffy said quietly to herself, readying to make her move. Having died twice already, and doubting she was going to get a third extra life in the game, Buffy was a lot more cautious. Illyria just went through life with the cheatmode on and could be flat-out blasé when it came to life-or-death situations. Frankly Buffy wondered if Blue getting a good whupping once in a while might be good for her character, it certainly wouldn't go amiss in maybe introducing her to the whole "humility" concept that had so far escaped her.

Illyria bellowed something at Amalfi once again, enraging the beast as before, it was positively _seething _by now. Whatever she was saying to it, it was clearly reacting to the words like a red rag to a bull and it swiped at her with both arms Illyria avoiding the attempts but keeping close enough that it tried again.

Connor started running, firing his shotgun at the demon as he went. He was down to buckshot now and the effect was more aimed at noise and distraction than anything else, certainly Amalfi wouldn't _know_ that Connor wasn't using the same ammunition as had hurt it before and that might help out.

Buffy charged in holding the scythe like an axe as suggested, gripping it as low down as she could, just barely above the wooden stake set into the bottom of the handle. As soon as she got close Buffy started to swing the scythe like she was chopping wood, putting everything she had into the blow bringing the weapon down as hard and fast as she could onto the demons massive clawed feet.

The blade bit dip and sliced through skin, muscle and tissue. Needless to say it hurt a _lot_ even if Buffy couldn't quite sever the whole toe and had to make do with only cutting it two-thirds of the way off, held on by a scrap of flesh.

Amalfi howled in pain once again, even louder than when he was shot in the eye but instead of being distracted away from his pursuit of Illyria it directed its pain into rage and began a frenzied series of blows aimed at her spurred on by fury and its equivalent of adrenaline.

Illyria was sideswiped by a fist she just managed to avoid taken off-guard by Amalfi's reaction to its injury and having got too close to dive completely clear. The glancing impact sent her spiralling away and crashing to the ground as Buffy sprinted clear leaving a widening pool of Amalfi's blood spreading across the road surface.

Before she could get up the demon smashed its right hand down on Illyria as if squashing a bug. The blow was devastating, despite her armour absorbing much of the impact, and it knocked her momentarily senseless.

'Oh fuck no' Connor gasped as Amalfi picked up Illyria with one hand and grabbed her head with the other.

Amalfi twisted her head around and broke her neck like a twig, severing her spine with an audible crack and then throwing her away, Illyria fell to the ground limply in a broken heap unmoving. With the armour on the God-King was just too tough to make a decent meal out of, and the demon tried to look after its teeth, they were part of its trademark as it were, so it didn't see her as a snack, only refuse to be disposed of. So much for the much vaunted Old Ones Amalfi thought, their reputation was badly undeserved. Now to deal with the human insects that had overrun this world.

Buffy gaped at Illyria's corpse then with horror at Amalfi which was rounding on her grinning with its great mouth of huge razor sharp teeth. This wasn't in the plan, this wasn't in the plan _at all_.


	14. Chapter 14

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

**Tarzana – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Buffy started backing off fast, with Illyria out of the way there was only one target worthy of Amalfi's attention and she was it. For all of her bluster Illyria really _was_ just about the toughest being that the slayer had ever encountered and if this beast could kill_ her_ then a mere slayer, even one carrying the scythe, was way out of her league.

Connor sprinted over to Illyria's body keeping a wide berth from Amalfi he dropped down next to her and picked up one of her hands, it was cool to the touch but that was normal for her anyway, her usual body temperature was lower than a human's though warmer than a vampire. She didn't have a pulse either 'Does Illyria usually have a pulse?' he called out realising he didn't actually know one way or the other.

'I'm not sure' Buffy called back, her attention firmly set on Amalfi who was slowly moving towards her, savouring the occasion no doubt.

'Well does she blink?' Connor asked instead, 'because she's not blinking either.'

Buffy was pretty sure that Illyria blinked normally, _that _was something she would have noticed if she didn't. 'Yes she blinks.'

Connor let the hand go and it fell limply to the ground, her head was twisted at a strange angle. Her crystalline blue eyes stared blankly into space unmoving. 'She's gone' he called out. 'He fucking killed her' he yelled out with rising anger, he hadn't even thought he liked or cared about her that much but Connor felt the rage building.

'Keep your cool Connor' Buffy warned, if the boy lost his head now he might_ literally_ lose it soon afterwards. If Amalfi could break Illyria's neck he'd have no trouble ripping Connors head clean off.

'She's _dead_' Connor yelled back at the slayer.

'And I don't want to be too so we're going to play this smart, have you got your cellphone?' Buffy asked continuing to move slowly away, ready to bolt if Amalfi started to run at her.

Connor patted the pockets of his jacket and found it zipped inside. 'Got it' he answered.

'Tell them where we are, get everyone here' Buffy ordered. 'We'll have to use weight of numbers' she told him.

Connor started dialling but he was interrupted by a screaming siren as another patrol car followed by a boxy dark blue van with flashing lights on top sped around the corner and immediately slammed on the brakes when the drivers saw what was in front of them.

'Thank Christ' one of the cops said, 'it's SWAT.'

Buffy resisted the urge to point out that swatted was exactly what was going to happen to several of them if they got involved but she was grateful for the distraction as black clad police officers bailed out of the van carrying assault weapons only to stop dead in their tracks and gawk. Connor was ignoring their arrival and calling for some proper backup. Screw "Special Weapons And Tactics" they needed Slayers, Witches and ideally a Tactical Nuke.

Why couldn't it be Tokyo PD? Buffy thought, at least they'd be used to this shit. 'In case you need the hint' she called out, '_that's_ the bad guy' she told them pointing with the scythe.

'Kill it, for God's sake kill it' one of the original cops who were already on site told the new arrivals.

Amalfi turned and roared at the SWAT team who started to spread out aiming their weapons at the monster. Most of them were carrying what looked to Buffy like a cut down version of Xanders M16, these being M4 Carbines the same weapon being used by many of the troops in Iraq. Buffy hoped they had plenty of ammunition because they really needed Elephant Guns instead, or maybe a Tank.

'What the fuck is it?' the SWAT Team commander called back to the cop who had repeated his frenzied request, almost pleading with them.

'It's a Demon' Connor interrupted. 'What the fuck does it look like?' he asked sarcastically putting his cell-phone away after completing his call and getting up to stand over Illyria's broken body.

'It killed my partner' one of the cops called out, 'squashed him like a fucking bug' he said pointing to the remains of the unfortunate Policeman. 'Shoot it, shoot it now before it kills us all!'

The SWAT Team Commander looked at the pulped remains of the man, mixed with his uniform then blinked. 'Open Fire' he ordered and his team started blazing away.

A storm of fire hit Amalfi like it was being attacked by a swarm of biting insects, the bullets imbedded themselves in his thick hide, some glancing off but there were so many it couldn't merely shrug off the attack and Amalfi charged at the tiny humans who were trying to injure it and they scattered in all directions but continued to engage, this wasn't anything they'd done before but they'd all seen plenty of monster movies, they were trained to be calm under pressure and they had plenty of guts. They were professionals and they did their duty, in the films that was enough, in real life good guys may wear black but they get killed in the line and the bad guys often really win.

'Eyes' Buffy yelled over the firing. 'Shoot out the eyes.'

A couple of the SWAT Team took Buffy's advise and raised their aims, firing at Amalfi's head. There were certainly plenty of eyes up there to shoot at anyhow, a target rich environment as they say. A burst of fire went right on the mark and punctured one of its eyes

Amalfi's reaction was immediate and savage, it moved faster than something that size _should_ be able to move and leaping forward it got near enough to the men firing at it to smash two aside with a sweep of its left arm. They went flying away, their bodies already shattered by the force of the impact well before they landed dozens of yards away down the street. Amalfi round on the next group who fled in several directions figuring it couldn't chase all of them and of course it couldn't. Instead it chose one and ran him down, stomping him flat underfoot.

They were all going to get themselves killed Buffy realised. 'Tell Dawn I love her' she yelled to Connor. 'Look after her for me okay?'

Connor looked at the Slayer, she was going to do something really stupid he could tell. 'Wait for backup' he called back, funny really, only minutes before she'd been trying to get him to think straight now she was clearly the insane one.

'No time, I've got to slow it down' Buffy yelled back and started sprinting towards Amalfi. If she timed this right and was lucky she might hit hard enough with enough momentum from her run to get the scythe in nice and deep.

Buffy accelerated up to her top speed and braced for the impact, it was going to feel like she was running head first into a Giant Redwood tree. Kamikaze Lumberjack to the rescue, she thought getting ready to swing the scythe.

A flash of light thirty yards away caught her eye and Buffy veered off course, trust the Cavalry to arrive just in the nick of time she thought and yelled to the newcomer. 'Willow, hit that thing with everything you've got' she bellowed at the Witch who was just standing there stunned by the sight before her.

Willow shook off her amazement at the size of the thing and started summoning power, lots of it, everything she could muster.

One of the SWAT Team had seen her arrive in a flash of light, this was turning out to be a really fucked-up day he thought especially when the young red-haired chick suddenly rose a good two feet off the ground with lightning crackling around her and her eyes changing to pure black. He turned and raised his weapon at her but before he could fire the skinny kid tore over and tackled him to the ground. 'She's on _our_ side you asshole' Connor told him and forcibly turned made him watch as Willow held out her hands in front of her palms facing each other and started to generate a ball of flaming energy between them.

Amalfi spun on its heels, it had felt the magic user arrive by teleport and now felt power being gathered and directed, lots of power, this was an extremely strong mage, easily a match for the strongest of demons it had ever faced.

Willow launched the fireball and it hurtled towards the great demon. Amalfi tried to dodge but it was guided on its path and Willow redirected its flight en-route so it would still strike its target.

The Fireball struck Amalfi in the chest and rocked it back slightly but did little else, its chest was blackened and singed but this wasn't like trying to beat up on a Mage, like her fight with Cyrus Vail had been, the damn demon was just built so heavy it didn't do much more than piss it off some more.

Willow started to generate another fireball as fast as she could. '_Buffy where's Illyria_' she asked telepathically. '_I got a message she was out of action and you needed me from Connor, all the Skilosh are dead_. _Is she hurt_? _I think we need her for this, I can't put much more power into an attack than I just did, even if I go completely off the deep end into black and veiny country. That thing is huge. _'

'_Illyria's dead_' Buffy thought back, running to Willow's side keeping out of the line of fire of both the Witch and the SWAT guys who had clearly decided that the weird red haired chick throwing ball of fire was a problem for later and they were still shooting at Amalfi.'

'_I am **not** dead_' a familiar voice interjected loudly and with more than a little touch of annoyance.

'_Illyria_!' Buffy thought turning towards the God-Kings body still lying there. '_You look pretty damn dead to me_.'

'_I can't move_' Illyria stated. '_The wretched shell is paralysed. Amalfi broke its spine. I cannot even speak, I have been lying here waiting for the witch to arrive so I could communicate with her telepathically, and through her with you. _'

'_How the hell are you **not** dead_?' Connor asked. '_I heard your neck snap_' he continued half in wonderment and relief that she was still alive and half in confusion.

'_The shell is a vertebrate **I** was not. As I told the Half Breed Angel I predate the evolution of such life'_ she replied'_In simple terms_ _I am not… wired… like you are,_ _but unfortunately the shell still is to some extent. Amalfi is far younger than I and would not know this._'

Buffy felt herself smiling '_It's great to hear you Blue_, _we thought you were gone for good_' she thought. '_I guess they don't spawn them like they used to_.'

'_We'll take care of you, try and see if we can fix it later' _Willow thoughtas she fired another ball of flame that crashed into the Demon and charred a two yard wide patch of its abdomen_. 'I might be able to find a healing spell…_'

'_I do not need your assistance witch_' Illyria replied sharply_, 'I need the slayers, and likely the boys too._'

'_We'll carry you away later, we won't leave you there honest_' Buffy responded.

Illyria growled in their minds. '_I only need you to twist my head back into place, once it is roughly aligned I can regain control of the shell._'

'_You're kidding_?' Connor asked.

'_My nervous system is more decentralised than yours, as long as the spine is roughly in line it will transmit nerve impulses, now just do what I'm telling you_' Illyria replied angrily. '_And hurry up, the witch will not be able to continue to generate and project such power indefinitely_.'

'_She's right_' Willow told them firing yet again. '_This is draining, I'm going to have to let go soon in order to keep up the fight and that would be bad_.'

'Connor quickly' Buffy called out loud and ran for Illyria's prone body Connor doing likewise letting the cop he'd tackled get back on his feet.

Buffy put down the scythe and turned Illyria over gently, her body flopped like a rag doll. The Slayer took her head in a vice like grip.

'_Anticlockwise_' Illyria's thoughts told her.

'Isn't this going to hurt?' Buffy asked out loud.

'_You should not wrench your muscles too badly doing this if Connor aids you_' Illyria replied.

'I meant _you_' Buffy responded. 'Connor we're twisting her head anticlockwise' she told him as he dropped to his knees next to them.

'_My pain will be transitory, my wrath will be of a far longer duration_' Illyria responded. '_Turn until you hear a crack_'

'This is so gross' Buffy said with distaste. 'On three… one, two three, twist.'

Connor and Buffy applied force, and nothing happened, they kept building up the pressure. 'Son-of-a-bitch she's got strong neck muscles' Connor swore then gritted his teeth to put more effort into it.

Buffy grimaced putting everything into the move, then with an unbecoming grunt of effort from the slayer Illyria's head finally turned slightly then with a nauseating sound, half crack half crunch it snapped back into a more normal position.

With a scream of pain and anger the God-King sat bolt upright, pivoting at the waist sending Buffy and Connor flying as she did. Rolling to a halt hitting the ground Buffy watched Illyria take hold of her own head and with another cracking sound align it again. Her neck muscles must be holding it in place, her spine couldn't have been repaired. Illyria turned left and right then finally cocked her head to the side in her classic habitual manner, all three movements causing a series of clicks but the neck worked.

Illyria got up off the ground slowly rather than her usual flip to her feet, and muttering extremely dark thoughts that Willow couldn't translate, she turned her back on Amalfi and started walking away.

'Where are you going?' Buffy called after her getting up herself.

Ignoring the slayer Illyria kept going and raised a hand opening the swirling black vortex of a portal and stepped through the portal closing behind her.

'Okay that was unexpected, think she's gone for help, portal a few of the girls back?' Connor asked.

'Maybe' Buffy replied. 'I doubt she's running away anyhow, not her style she'd rather get beaten to death. I wish she could get used to telling people what she's doing though.'

'_Can I get some help here_' Willow asked telepathically.

Buffy turned to the witch who had given up on full power shots and was now launching rapid salvos of smaller fireballs at Amalfi trying to keep it busy, they weren't much more than a nuisance but they gave enough distraction for the SWAT guys to keep pouring in the fire without getting squished for their trouble, the demon having to shield its eyes with its hands to protect itself.

'Aim high!' Buffy yelled and got the scythe ready again, not quite the suicide mission of before but you couldn't say it was a safe course of action.

Buffy started running, the scythe ready for some good old fashioned slayer hack and slash action. Once again she was forced to veer off half way this time stopped not by a flash of light but by a portal opening up just in front of her that she had to dive away to avoid.

Illyria stepped back into the arena and bellowed something incomprehensible to Amalfi who turned to face her instantly, it was certain it had killed the Old One earlier but the ancient demon was clearly far more resilient than Amalfi had believed. More to the point what was it carrying?

'That is enough Willow this creature is mine' Illyria stated coldly raising both of her hands.

'Oh shit, everyone get out of the way' Connor yelled out diving for cover, the shrapnel from those things could go thirty yards.

The Fireballs stopped hitting Amalfi and it roared just before Illyria pulled the triggers on the two grenade launchers she was carrying, one in each hand holding them like pistols. The two grenades hurtled off and struck it simultaneously, the blast knocking it back and throwing small pieces of shrapnel in all directions along with blackened skin.

Her face twisted into a mask of vengeance Illyria walked towards Amalfi firing the twin six-shot launchers alternately. The sound was deafening, both of the 40mm grenades being launched and the even louder explosions on impact that rattled the windows of every home in the street. The God-King fired round after round over and over again until all twelve grenades had been fired.

Amalfi somehow still stood, its chest a smoking ruin, blood and demon flesh littering the asphalt. Illyria looked up at it and sneered throwing the launchers aside and striding over to her sword abandoned earlier dropping to one knee and picking it up with one hand holding the girder sized weapon aloft.

Buffy looked up from where she had sheltered behind a patrol car. 'I guess nobody kills Blue and gets away with it' she said to herself straightening up as the God-King howled a battle cry and ran straight at the dazed beast aiming her sword at its belly like a lance. 'Suppose I'd better help' she added and went charging after the _extremely_ angry Old One.

Already unsteady on its feet the impact of Illyria and her half ton of sharpened I-Beam going full tilt sent Amalfi half falling backwards but it still remained upright. The sword did not penetrate and both it and Illyria more or less bounced off on collision, the God King landing and turning as she did swinging around taking the hilt of her sword in both hands and slamming it hard around the back of the huge demons right knee buckling it ever so slightly with the impact.

The Demon stumbled, then with surprising slowness it fell backwards landing on its back, ten tons of bone and muscle crashing to the ground with a heavy thump that shook the ground itself. Illyria half grinned, half snarled and walked around the demon until she was stood next to its head bringing her sword up over her head.

Illyria bought her sword down hard onto Amalfi's head, it made a loud thumping noise and she felt the blow vibrate back down her arms jarring her neck but she raised it again and repeated the action just as Buffy arrived.

Several blows later Illyria got into a rhythm, interspersing blows with what sounded like Amalfi's own speech. To everyone watching, and _everyone_ was watching it was a continual series of almighty thumps as steel thudded into oversized skull. It wasn't exactly a refined way to kill someone but clubbing them to death with an iron bar had proven popular over the years, the only difference here was scale, and the fact that Amalfi's skull was apparently _very_ thick.

'Umm Blue, are you planning to do that all day?' Buffy asked.

'I will continue doing this until the beast is dead or I have bent this weapon over its head' Illyria replied curtly and hit Amalfi again with a satifying "clang" as its flesh had split and was now showing bare bone.

'You know we've got an audience right?' Buffy asked sweeping her hand around.

Illyria looked around and narrowed her eyes at the scattered policemen. She sighed in annoyance, 'Open up its throat with the scythe' she said. 'You may need to use a sawing action' she advised bringing the sword down hard one more time to keep Amalfi stunned and subdued.

Buffy jumped up high onto the demons chest avoiding the worst of the damage caused by the multiple grenade hits. Amalfi was already bleeding heavily, gallons of thick, strangely coloured blood running down the street into the drains. It's chest rose and fell as it struggled to breathe, ribs showed through where the flesh had been blown clear. It was slippery underfoot as Buffy moved into position bringing the scythe upwards spreading her feet well apart for stability as she bought it down hard slashing open the demons throat.

It wasn't so much sawing as chopping, guess I really do get to play lumberjack, Buffy thought as she hacked into the demons neck. 'I'm a slayerchick and that's okay, I slay all night and I sleep all day' she sang as she swung the scythe.

Buffy hit the main artery with the third stroke and jumped clear as a geyser of blood spurted out and began raining down. 'Slayer Duty my ass, this is no way to make a living' she declared loudly running clear of the spray.

Illyria remained standing next to Amalfi as its blood gushed up and fell around her. She angled her face upwards to feel it wash over her for a few moments then turning bought the sword down hard one more time into Amalfi's jaw knocking several of its teeth loose. She reached in and wrenched one clear as a trophy. Frankly its spine would have been more appropriate given that it had broken hers but there was just nowhere to put it she decided sadly.

As the gusher of blood began to fade, the rising and falling on the great demons chest started to diminish as it finally succumbed to death.

'_Umm guys this situation is kinda high-profile_' Willow noted telepathically. '_We're talking hundreds, if not thousands of eye witnesses, a really big demon corpse and I think that helicopter up there is filming us._'

Illyria looked around. Several of the SWAT team members were nervously fingering their weapons though none had the courage to speak and they were just looking on like they were trying to decide if this was actually happening or not.

'_Do not concern yourselves_' Illyria replied in thought looking around. '_I have a plan to deal with such an eventuality_.'

'_What the hell kind of plan gets us out of **this**_?' Buffy asked reasonably looking around.

**Cyrus Vail's Mansion – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Willow squatted down to look Vail right in the face, even inverted it was pretty plain to see that he was utterly petrified. Of course if _you_ were being held hanging upside down by one ankle by a psychotic God-King with a known predilection for extreme violence while a witch, who had previously kicked your ass, questioned you, you likely would be a bit disconcerted too. Vail had hoped that by keeping a low profile and staying out of Wolfram and Hart business for a while he could avoid meeting the red haired uber-witch again but instead she had come calling on _him_. At least she was after information rather than his internal organs on a platter, that was a definite plus.

'While we are here Connor might as well deal with Sahjhan, it will save another visit in the future' Illyria stated. 'I remember the Resikhian Urn was in the next room' she added. 'It will be good for Connor to get to kill something.'

Willow frowned, she had absolutely no idea what Illyria was talking about yet again, but ignoring that for now they had a more pressing mission. 'Okay Vail you overrated hack, so how do you go about with a selective mass memory wipe and where's this "Orlon Window" thing in case we need it later?' she asked Vail tapping him on the forehead with one of her knuckles. 'Don't make me get violent here' she added menacingly.

Buffy looked on, her arms crossed in front of her. Stood next to her was Connor who was looking around the room with mild curiosity. 'Hey I just thought' Connor said to the Slayer. 'You know when you made that joke about us defending the Earth from the Scum of the Multiverse and I said it was a pity we didn't have our Neuralisers? Boy was I wrong there' he said.

'I'm still not wearing one of those black suits' Buffy replied.


	15. Chapter 15

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

**Cyrus Vail's Mansion – Los Angeles – July 2003**

'So I beat this guy before?' Connor asked limbering up.

Illyria nodded, her neck clicking as she did so, she was going to have to get something done about that, it was annoying. 'It was prophesised you would do so' she answered.

'I thought you didn't put much stock in prophecies' Connor replied.

'I thwart them when required, but many I have encountered, would be accurate if not for my intervention' Illyria replied. 'Sahjahn likes to talk and is stronger than most foes you will have faced. Do not take it lightly merely because of witty banter' she cautioned.

Connor finished his stretching exercises with a series of deep breathes. 'Okay I'm ready' he told her sliding his serrated-edged hunting knife from its sheaf inside his jacket.

'If at any point you are in mortal danger I will freeze time' Illyria told him. 'But I will be disappointed in you if you allow that to occur.'

'Haven't you been pushing it with the powers today already?' Connor asked her. 'Wouldn't like to lose you twice in one day, especially if you might go Chernobyl on me' he added.

'When I have been pushing my powers too hard you will know it' the God-King replied. 'The cracks in the shell with the light beaming out of them are hard to miss' she told him.

Connor smiled, 'Game on' he said and lifted the lid off the Urn.

Smoke poured from the vessel and formed into a being familiar to Illyria who had seen it before both in Fred's memories of seeing it originally confined to the urn by the woman Justine and its release by Connor in the original timeline. Sahjahn, the interdimensional demon that had banished the Halfbreed's son to Quartoth as a baby.

'Thank you, mortal, for releasing me from my cursed prison. In gratitude, I grant you 3 wishes' Sahjahn told Connor.

'Really' Connor asked in surprise. It really was very Genie and the Lamp, but he didn't exactly see himself as Aladdin.

'Nah, I'm just messing with ya' Sahjahn replied wryly.

Connor couldn't help but grin, it might be an evil demon that had sought his death but it was witty just like Illyria had said. So many demons were "Gragnor Smash" at best, finding one with a dry sense of humour was a novelty.

'I don't know you' Sahjan told Connor then turned to Illyria, 'You I remember, at least I think I do, you were with that black guy, Angels sidekick, who's ass I kicked along with his boss' he said. 'You weren't that colour before though and the leathers new as well' he noted. 'Got into body paint and S&M the last couple of years?' he asked.

'Look closer' Illyria told him, locking eyes with the demon, staring him out.

Sahjan blinked first. 'An Old One?' he asked. 'Haven't seen one of your kind around for a long time' he told her. 'Possessed the skinny chick did you? In your shoes I'd have gone for more cleavage but who am I to judge?' he asked rhetorically. 'So what do you two want with…' the demon paused and turned to look at Connor more closely. 'Ahh it's _you_' he said. 'So how did Quortoth work out for ya?'

'Made me a good fighter' Connor replied, 'probably _not_ what you were trying to achieve in sending me there right?'

Sahjahn shrugged. 'Try and cheat fate and fate'll bite you on the ass' he replied. 'If I believed in karma I'd blame the playing with the prophecy scrolls thing' he continued. 'So are you with the blue chick? Got a thing for older women?' he asked.

'We're just good friends' Connor replied evenly. As a matter of fact he did like older women, not _Illyria_ _old_ as a rule but older than him. Well that and lesbians now apparently… damn it why couldn't he go for straight girls his own age? Think of the angst it would save everyone concerned, he thought to himself sadly.

The demon nodded slightly at the boys reply and turned back to Illyria. 'So after I kill the kid wanna go see a movie? I'll spring for popcorn' he asked. 'Or are you here to fight his battles for him?' he asked.

'I'm seeing someone' Illyria replied. 'And as for the fight do you want me to show you how we used to do it?' Illyria asked clenching a fist. If he answered in the affirmative she would of course merely pummel him for a while, the honour of the kill being Connors alone. Illyria, much like Fred in fact, was a strong proponent of the "screw destiny" school of thought but nevertheless she did like symmetry. For Sahjahn to actually cause his own demise by seeking to prevent it was certainly ironic, not to say amusing as hell.

'I'll take a raincheck on the fight, and I'll take back the offer of a date if that's okay' Sahjahn told her thinking about it. 'No offence, you're hot and all, but I'm thinking _lots_ of baggage.'

Sahjahn limbered up, Connor wasn't exactly as intimidating as he'd imagined he was going to be all these years but there was a definite spark of wild-eyed mayhem going on in there. It wasn't surprising if he'd grown up in, and managed to live through, the darkest of the dark worlds. 'Going to use that knife?' Sahjahn asked, 'because you know I'm unarmed right?' he said holding up his empty hands.

Connor thought about that. 'You tried to have me killed when I was in the womb and _now_ you want a fair fight?' he asked sarcastically.

The demon shrugged. 'It was worth a try' he said then launched into a sudden attack without warning.

Damn he's quick, Connor thought using his arms to block Sahjahn's flurry of punches, they were hard too, the demon had a hell of a right cross and a jab that really rocked you on your feet.

Connor feinted a kick, and when Sahjahn tried to change stance to block it he slashed his knife across the demons left arm, slicing through his thick heavy clothing, the blade cutting deep, its razor sharp saw-toothed edged ripping as much as cutting through the flesh underneath.

The demon hissed and bared his teeth pulling back away, Connor immediately took the initiative, and changing his grip on the knife he began a series of punches and kicks aimed at keeping Sahjahn off balance. It soon became apparent however that the demon could not only dish it out he could take it, there was a lot of muscle inside that bulky torso and Connor's punches weren't having the effect he would have hoped for. Against a human, or even a vampire opponent, one of Connor's fists hitting at full force would at least knock the wind completely out and probably damage internal organs or break bone. As it was the best he got out of Sahjahn was a grunt when he drove his knuckles into the demons gut.

Sahjan attempted a leg sweep, he wasn't just all power without technique, he had had plenty of centuries to practice for the main event, but the teenager was too alert to fall for that and he jumped clear to avoid it, moving into a defensive posture. Connor decided that his best bet was to cut on Sahjahn for a while and he would be better off playing counter-punch, waiting for the demon make a mistake and them punishing him for it hard with the knife.

'Not used to fighting something my size junior?' Sahjahn asked getting ready to make his move.

'Yeah, you should have seen the thing I was up against earlier' Connor replied. After being chased by Amalfi Sahjahn was less than intimidating. 'I think it could just about fit you in its mouth.'

'Seriously?' Sahjahn asked. 'Was that around here?'

Connor shook his head 'Over Tarzana way' he replied.

Sahjahn rolled his eyes. 'Well what do you expect if you're going to go to the Valley?' he asked, taking a leap at Connor to try and get him into a wrestling match where strength would mean more than speed.

Half turning to avoid the charge Connor managed to slash Sahjahn across the face, half slicing his cheek off in a vicious bloody wound. Vail was going to need to get his carpet in here replaced, the demons blood didn't look like I would wash out easily as blood poured down his face and to the ground.

Connor kept turning, using the demons momentum against him and then when he was at the right angle he kicked out against the back of Sahjans left knee and buckled it sending the demon sprawling to the ground hard. He was still falling when Connor shifted position so he could jump on his back as soon as he hit the ground and finish off with a death blow.

Before Sahjahn could get back up Connor, had one knee on his upper back, and he was bringing the knife down hard, holding it with both hands putting all his strength into it. He could have grabbed the demons hair, pulled back the head and slashed its throat but this way was quicker, more final, Connor simply slammed the point large knife into the back of the demons neck, driving it in half way down the blade and severing its spine.

'Well done' Illyria said approvingly as Connor got up leaving Sahjahn lying there twitching with the knife still embedded in the back of his neck. 'I doubt it could survive such an injury but you might wish to make sure it is dead though by opening up some major blood vessels.'

Connor was breathing heavily, it had not been a long fight but it had been intense and his heart rate and the adrenaline flowing through his system testified to that. 'I think you're the only person around here that can survive something like that but I'll play safe' he said and reached down to pull the knife clear, the saw toothed edge tearing more flesh on the way out. 'Back in the Quortoth I would have taken a souvenir' he said rolling Sahjan over with his foot.

Illyria frowned. 'The people of this realm in this era do not appreciate the taking of trophies from a fallen foe' she said. 'They even frown upon their own soldiers when they take such trivialities as the ear from enemies they have killed in battle' she continued. 'Perhaps they should instead wonder why it still happens anyway despite the widespread disapproval of society. It would aid their understanding of what a warrior mindset actually is.'

'I think they're soft' Connor replied finding a major blood vessel on Sahjahn and cutting it open, letting the blood pour out onto the floor. 'They eat meat but hardly any of them have ever actually slain an animal themselves, it's made them removed from who they are' he opined.

'Indeed' Ilyria agreed. 'One of their own poets pointed out that nature is "Red in Tooth and Claw" and their history is replete with war and conflict of a scale that was likely not even matched in my day, but still they fail to understand that by seeking to deny the violence within themselves they merely suppress their own identities and it really _can't_ be good for them.'

Connor stood back up. 'I saw a T-Shirt slogan a couple of weeks back. "Stress - The confusion created when one's mind overrides the body's basic desire to choke the living shit out of some asshole who desperately deserves it.".'

'Words of wisdom' Illyria replied. 'Violence is cathartic, it is only wrong if it not directed at those who have earned its application.'

Connor wiped his knife clean on an expensive looking tapestry on the wall. If you liked that slogan how about "Kill 'em all, let the Powers-That-Be sort 'em out".'

Buffy walked in and looked at the pair of them, and then at the demon lying in the pool of blood. 'If you're both finished with the sociopathic, and lets face it borderline fascist, philosophy Willow has sorted out the spell with Vail' she said then paused 'And Connor' she added, 'I am _so_ stealing that line.'

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – July 2003**

Giles opened his mouth to speak, frowned, closed it again then finally found the words. 'You mindwiped half the population of the city of Los Angeles?' he asked shaking his head.

Willow pursed her lips. 'Mindwipe sounds so… invasive' she replied. 'We just kinda blanked out anything Amalfi related.'

Wesley blinked. 'And you can do that?' he asked. 'To thousands of people, just remove information from their heads?'

'It's more like preventing them from remembering it rather than actually erasing the memories physically, then we put in some false memories to cover the gap' Willow replied. 'Vail showed me how… under duress.'

'It was a mutually beneficial arrangement' Buffy told them. 'He cooperated and in return we let him live… we both made out on the deal.'

A sharp cracking noise indicated that Illyria had cocked her neck again, it was easier to forget how often she did that before it was accompanied by a sound effect. The noise made Wesley wince but it didn't seem that painful to Illyria, not that she would necessarily react if you stuck her hand in molten lava, she had a certain impassive poise that was only abandoned when upset or pissed-off, mere pain on its own wouldn't do it. 'Compared to when Angel had all memories of Connor erased in the original timeline, or the complete invention of Dawns entire life in the minds of all those who would have had dealings with her, this was not a major undertaking.'

'It's really more like the spell that stopped us remembering that Ben and Glory were one being, the mind just skips over the Amalfi incident' Willow interjected.

Cordelia made an angry sound. 'It's mental rape, _that's_ what it is' she declared. 'Your memories are who you are' she stated with conviction. 'What gives us the right to do something like that to other people' she asked. 'I think it's obscene.'

'It was necessary and you are over-dramatising the situation' Illyria replied calmly. 'Are the people whose memories were altered, for what is at most a few minutes of their lives, in any way worse off for _not_ recalling that a large demon ran around the San Fernando Valley and killed some Policemen?' she asked.

Cordelia glared at Illyria, then turned to Buffy 'How could _you_ go along with this? Did you like having your memories altered by those Dagon Monk guys? I'll tell you right now I didn't like having mine wiped, it's like someone taking your soul' she stated. 'I mean I'd expect this from _her_' she said stabbing a finger towards Illyria, 'she's inhuman' she said then after a pause added 'no offence.'

'Why being called inhuman would in any way offend me I cannot begin to grasp' Illyria replied flatly.

Buffy sighed. 'The world isn't ready to know what's really out there, civilisation would collapse' she told them. 'A person can be rational as an individual but people collectively, they're an unthinking mob' she replied earning a look from Willow. 'Hey I took psyche for a few courses' she reminded her friend. 'We could spark holy wars, crusades, witches getting burned at the stake…' she continued with a nod to her freind. 'Supposedly half the people in this country still think the universe was made in six days, less than ten thousand years ago for God's sake.'

'I must have slept through it' Illyria interjected deadpan.

'You haven't altered any of _our_ memories have you?' Giles asked cautiously.

'Well you did say you didn't want to remember your torrid affair with Spike when he lived with you any more' Buffy replied trying to keep a straight face. 'You've been broken up about it for so long.'

Giles narrowed his eyes. 'Very funny' he replied flatly.

'No' Willow answered the original question, 'anybody from our organisation remembers everything, as does Wolfram and Hart because they've got some kind of protection from that sort of thing' she said. 'They won't do anything about it either, it's not in their interests for the truth to go global any more than it's ours.'

Cordelia rounded on Angel who had been listening impassively, he was more annoyed that Connor had gone to face Sahjahn without him that anything else. 'So are you going to back me up here?' she asked coldly.

Angel furrowed his brow. 'I can see their point' he said. 'But I think they should have talked to the rest of us first.'

'Buffy has the senior command role of your group, Willow is the one that was most important as regards the spell involved and I was the one who had planned for such an occurrence' Illyria replied. 'The rest of you would have merely provided mindless chatter and time was of the essence' she stated. 'The longer we waited the more changes would have been necessary.'

'So are you like taking your cues off Illyria now?' Cordelia asked Buffy, 'advice on moral issues from the amoral? What is she, the goddamn anti-Jiminy Cricket?'

Buffy looked away. 'It was necessary' she stated. 'Maybe in a few years when we've got some infrastructure in place, more slayers trained, a foothold in some more countries we can let people know what's going on but not _now_' she said. 'It was a judgement call, it needed to be made right then and there and I made it' she said. 'If you don't like it fine but it's water under the bridge now anyhow.'

Cordelia crossed her arms and scowled. 'Do me a favour' she said. 'Next time you decide to play God… don't.'

'Okay I can see the mindwipe thing but how the hell did you get out of the situation where you were standing next to a whale sized demon corpse, surrounded by cops in broad daylight?' Faith asked.

'As soon as Amalfi died the power that surrounded it that was prevented me altering time disappeared' Illyria replied. 'I simply put everything on hold for a moment, and we cleared up the mess.'

'You cleared up the mess? How the hell do you clear up ten tons of dead demon?' Faith asked nonplussed.

'It's amazing what you can do pretty quickly with the right motivation, a really sharp scythe, an eight foot steel girder, plenty of muscle power and the ability to teleport, slow down time and create portals… we just needed to break up the problem into several _smaller_ problems.'

'Ah right' Faith replied, 'and ick.'

'One set of new memories later and we were all done' Willow told them. 'They think the cops died in a car wreck… we had to wreck some cars but that wasn't difficult.'

'I thought that the reason we had a downer on the PTB's is that they do stuff like this, play games with destiny and peoples lives' Cordelia said.

'Cordy get over it. Next time we rewrite history we'll get your stamp of approval okay?' Buffy snapped at her.

Cordelia looked around the room shaking her head. 'I don't like where we're heading here' she stated. 'Too much expediency and not enough ethics' she declared haughtily. 'If we resort to their methods and we're willing to treat people as things to be "fixed" how are we any different from Wolfram and Hart?' I ask you how are we different?' she asked plaintively.

'We're winning' Illyria replied. 'What else matters?'

**Malibu – Los Angeles – August 2003**

Xander unrolled a towel. 'Come on Wes stop looking so damn miserable' he told him.

'It's too hot, why people would want to lay on the breach and get incinerated I will never understand' Wesley replied.

'Nobody forced you to come along' Buffy pointed out rooting through her bag for her sunglasses.

'Yes they did' Wesley retorted. 'They ganged up on me, I just wanted to get some reading done, but oh no I have to come here and get scorched.'

'Ahh the British, aside from vampires they react the worst to sunlight of all of Gods creations' Xander commented. 'Well them and redheads.'

'I can't help it if I burn easily' Willow said slavering on another layer of sunscreen. 'At least I'm not as pale as Vi, well not quite.'

Faith pulled her own sunglasses slightly down her nose and looked over the top of them at Wesley. 'Come on watcherman lose the shirt and get some colour on that pasty pink skin.'

'You won't get colour' Wesley replied. 'Half an hour out here and I'll _melt_' he complained. 'It's midsummer for pities sake.'

'Do you think if Brits melt the puddle is lime flavoured?' Xander asked Willow curiously. 'You lived there you know the ways of their kind.'

'Lime with a subtle hint of tea I'd say' Willow replied thoughtfully after a pause to consider the question.

'The girls are going to play beach volleyball later' Faith remarked. 'Bet you a thousand bucks it draws a big crowd… mainly boys.'

'Hey!' Willow complained.

'And lesbians, we shouldn't ignore the possibility of lesbians' Faith added with a grin.

'Thankyou' Willow replied grinning back.

'Why are you still wearing that shirt?' Illyria asked walking over with Fred and Gunn, the latter carrying a large Cooler box. 'Take it off, you look ridiculous, none of the other males are wearing one' she told him spreading out a large towel for both of them.

Wesley ground his teeth slightly and did as he was told. 'You've got him nicely trained' Buffy told Illyria approvingly.

'He hardly even talks back now' Illyria replied happily.

'So what's it like being so whipped?' Gunn asked in amusement as the Englishman took off his shirt.

'She only does _that_ on special occasions when I ask _really_ nicely' Wesley replied dryly. 'Happy now?' he asked everyone rolling his eyes. 'Now I'll spend the afternoon turning in a lobster lookalike… only with more scars' he added. He really did have a lot of scars on his torso, the strange thing was he'd actually _won_ most of the fights he'd ever been in.

'I will rub sunscreen into your back where you cannot reach' Illyria told him. She was wearing a one-piece bathing costume and a sarong around her waist her outfit matching Fred's as they had purchased them together. Although Illyria liked to maintain a different appearance to Fred, even when looking human hence the blue hair and (human looking) blue eyes she often dressed similarly nonetheless. They just suited the same clothes.

'Need me to do yours?' Wesley asked Illyria who shook her head, her skin could take a hell of a lot more UV than the sun was putting out, a thermonuclear fireball might give her a heavy tan if it went off close enough but the sun wasn't an issue.

Buffy watched the slayers splash around in the water, Dawn was in there too as were the three watcher girls. Some of them were taking a swim others just goofing off, splashing each other. It was a nice idea of Xander to get everyone out here, well everyone that wouldn't combust into flames anyway.

'Ice-cream!' Kennedy said returning with Anya, both of them carrying one in each hand passing the spares to Xander and Willow. 'We told the guy at the icecream place to keep plenty back for the girls for later' she said. 'Anya gave him a few bucks as an incentive.'

'Money is the lubricant of a civilised society' Anya declared sitting down next to Xander who was already attacking his ice-cream, 'it helps things run smoothly and prevents future disappointments' she told them.

'How did Giles get out of this anyway?' Wesley asked.

'He volunteered to be duty watcher first before you could' Buffy replied. 'At least he _wanted_ to be on duty, Amanda drew the short straw for her team to have to be on call back at the Hotel. They weren't happy with her.'

Faith shrugged. 'Someone had to do it, could have just as easily been you or me, or Kennedy there' she said then smirked. 'Check out Connor and D'Artagnon' she said suddenly.

Buffy looked over. 'They're playing with a Frisbee so what?' she asked.

'Look at the expression on D'Artagnans face' Faith told her. 'He wants to beat Connor so bad he can taste it.'

'I thought they were over that?' Willow asked.

'Yeah because the only two teenage guys living in a hotel full of teenage girls aren't going to be competitive at all' Faith said laughing. 'Not fair on Stephen though, Connor's got all the advantages, although watcherboy _does_ look better with his shirt off. Connor's too lean for my tastes.'

'Looking at teenage boys Faith?' Willow said in mock disapproval.

'Hey I'm just _looking_ Red' Faith replied. 'The only one actually here dating a teenager is _you_' she pointed out with a nod towards Kennedy. Willow blushing in response despite herself, dating Kennedy wasn't exactly cradle snatching, she was older than most of the other girls, but she was still a few years younger than Willow herself.

'Sexual frustration' Anya said, everyone turning to her wondering where that line came from. 'The watcher boy' she explained, 'he does an awful lot of exercise, my guess would be sexual frustration, he's eighteen, lives with his girlfriend, sees her constantly but he can't do anything with her because she's younger than him. So he works out a lot instead.'

'Hey if we can stop him getting laid long enough he might be more use in the field' Xander declared. 'Work out that tension beating up demons.'

'So is that why you started patrolling with me?' Buffy asked, 'getting out that teenage "tension"?'

'All I'm saying is that I can see where the poor kid is coming from' Xander replied with a grin.

'Hey if Anya and Xander are onto something, we keep Emily in a bikini for a while and he'll either explode or be the worst thing to hit demonkind since Blue decided to join the good guys' Faith suggested.

Illyria had been rubbing sunscreen into Wesley's back, the two of them sitting on the towel she's laid out, but she stopped to turn towards the group. 'I did _not_ decide to join the good guys' she corrected Faith. 'I decided it was time for the good guys to join _me_.'

Fred chuckled. 'If egos had mass, the universe really _would_ be as Illyria-Centric as she thinks it is' she joked.

'You know there's beer in this cooler right English?' Gunn asked tapping the plastic box.

'It's not even eleven in the morning' Buffy pointed out.

Wesley looked at his watch. 'But back home it's getting towards evening he said tapping it.

'I think your boyfriend has a drink problem' Buffy told Illyria.

'Nonsense' Wesley retorted. 'I've _never_ had a problem getting a drink' he stated deadpan. 'Go on then, inflict one of those dastardly, cold, colonial excuses for beer on me' he told Gunn.

'Okay, so I have this image of the English as being drunken sex maniacs' Faith said. 'And it's disturbing.'

'Oh so you've lived over there too?' Willow said brightly.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – August 2003**

'Good Morning Sir, Madam' the young girl sitting behind the reception desk greeted them. 'Welcome to Angel Investigations how can we be of assistance?' she asked politely.

'Hi you're from England right?' the woman noted. 'Are you Wesley's kin?' she asked.

'Oh you know Mr Wyndham-Pryce?' the girl replied. 'No we just went to the same school, well he went there a few years before I did' she explained with a smile. 'Are you here to see him, I think he's upstairs somewhere.'

'No we're here to see our daughter' the man told her. 'Just thought we'd stop off on the way to Hawaii, taking a vacation out there and since we were changing flights in LA we thought we'd come see her.'

The girl nodded, they weren't the first parents to drop in on the Hyperion to see their daughter, though normally they gave warning. 'Who's your daughter?' she asked leafing through her slayer assignment list, hopefully they weren't on patrol.

'Emily did the computer keyboard I ordered arrive in the…' a young woman asked walking into the foyer reading off a clipboard, she stopped dead both mid-sentence and in her tracks when she saw who was standing next to the desk.

'Fred!' Roger Burkle greeted his daughter and ran off to hug her.

'Mom, Dad… what are you doing here?' she asked getting caught in a hug.

'We're on our way to Hawaii, you know the trip we always planned' Trish told her daughter joining the hug.

'But… but I thought you were going next year?' Fred asked in confusion.

'Well we were' Trish replied, 'but that money you sent really helped out so we decided to go a few months early. We couldn't believe it when you phoned us and said you won the lottery.'

'Yeah… I couldn't believe it either' Fred replied.

Roger and Trish broke the hug and looked their daughter up and down. 'I still don't think you're eating right' her mother told her.

'Now don't go telling the girl things like that' Roger chided his wife, she could give the girl a complex. 'She looks as healthy as ever' he said. 'I think you've been in LA too long though' he added. 'You never dyed your hair blue back home.'

'Emily did that new hard drive arrive in the mail?' Fred asked entering the lobby, her jaw dropping when she saw her parents by the desk.

Trish and Roger Burkle looked from one girl to the other, their eyes widening.

'Aw Crap' Illyria and Fred said simultaneously.


	16. Chapter 16

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

**Wolfram and Hart Building – Los Angeles – August 2003**

'The Senior Partners are not pleased with your progress so far' Eve noted making herself comfortable in the easy chair in one corner of Lilah's Office. 'If you don't start making headway soon you might find yourself sent away… without a head' she told her with the hint of a smile on her face. It was amazing just how much menace the slight little girl could put into her words when she had a mind to it, she had a fine grasp of cutting sarcasm too which Lilah found amusing, when it wasn't directed at her anyway.

Lilah leafed through the reports on her desk. 'Since a direct confrontation is not something any of us want, and given that they started out several jumps ahead of us and they've been sprinting ever since, I am not going to take any harsh action that would risk the long term goals of the company' Lilah stated calmly. 'The incident with Amalfi and their solution to the problems generated by it was another clear demonstration they are not the easily manipulated limp-wristed champions that we have been dealing with up until now' she stated then looked up. 'If the word on the mystical street is correct the Powers-That-Be have cut them off, in time that will start to cause them major difficulties and we can exploit the fact they are out of the psychic loop.'

Eve checked her nails, perfect as ever, if not the talons that Lilah wore. 'Ceding them the initiative for the foreseeable future is not exactly the proactive approach' she opined. 'The corporation likes go-getters not wait-and-_seers_.'

'We tried the proactive approach in Sunnydale and ended up minus one Hellgod, who was very expensive to get hold of and maintain and who we think is now spending her time cleaning floors, and with a gun-shy Warlock who lives in mortal fear of a mousy wicca geek' she replied. 'Not to mention several dozen battle-hardened Slayers who are now at least partially under the thrall of a psychotic Old One with a neat line in vengeance. '

'Sounds bad put like that doesn't it?' Eve noted deadpan with the barest hint of a smile on one side of her face.

'Have you seen the financial projections for this year?' Lilah asked wryly. 'I might sell up and shift my portfolio to something less shaky… like internet stock.'

'Even so I think it would be in your interests to do something soon just to shake the opposition up a bit and show the Senior Partners you're not just coasting, that we're in the game not just watching it.'

Lilah looked at Eve askance. 'And since when did _you_ have my best interests at heart?' she asked. 'Everyone from the zombies in the basement up knows you're after my job.'

Eve shrugged. 'Yeah well I would be if I thought I'd do any better at it than you are, but in the current circumstances I can't say I would' she admitted. 'As it is all the whining and blame is getting directed at you and I'm just the barer of bad tidings not the recipient of them.'

'Plenty of messengers get shot too' Lilah reminded her. 'I'd rather be in charge of my own destiny rather than subject to the possible failures of someone else's Machiavellian scheming.' she said closing the file and getting up from her chair to stretch her legs walking around the desk.

'Nice shoes' Eve noted, 'I have a pair myself, of course they're a few sizes smaller' she added with definite bitchiness.

'I hear the children's sizes are cheaper too' Lilah retorted. She would tower over Eve even if the other woman wasn't sitting down.

Eve smiled, if nothing else the verbal sparring with Lilah kept them both sharp. 'I caught wind that you were inviting the Circle to a special meeting to discuss the current situation' she said.

Lilah leaned back against her desk and crossed her arms. 'When I find out your source of information I'm going to have them boiled in oil you know that right?'

'I can always find another informant' Eve told her.

'Not a problem, we reuse the oil' Lilah replied evenly. 'It keeps costs down and it's also part of the new Corporate Recycling Program public relations is spearheading.'

Eve stood up and headed for the door. 'You know it really would be advantageous to your position if you instigated some kind of operation against the opposition in the near future' she advised. 'Even something minor like taking out a couple of slayers would help your position greatly, of course it would have to be done anonymously, we wouldn't want Buffy and her merry band of pointy-stick wielding teenagers arriving downstairs one morning with a notion to staple you to a wall.'

Lilah smirked. 'Your continued concern for my wellbeing gladdens my heart and fills me with warm fuzzies all over' she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Eve smiled sweetly back. 'Got to watch the bosses back don't I?' she asked.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – August 2003**

Fred walked back into the dining room finding her parents exactly where she'd left them, facing Illyria across a table and ignoring the coffee and cakes that had been laid out for them. This isn't exactly my usual modus operandi, Fred considered, but let's face it despite telling her parents the complete truth, and taking the best part of two hours to give them the edited highlights of the last few months, they would have to be nuts to really accept it all without _some_ proof, and a picture _is_ worth a thousand words they say.

'What in the Sam Hill!' Roger Buckle exclaimed as Fred bought up a baseball bat and suddenly swung it around to smash it against the back of her blue-haired doppelgangers head as hard as she could. It made a sharp cracking noise on impact which echoed off the walls of the otherwise empty room and should have smashed her skull but the victim didn't so much as flinch, in fact her head didn't even move in response to the blow. She just kept looking at them impassively with her clear blue eyes which along with the blue streaked hair differentiated her from Fred herself.

'An axe would have made a more impressive display' Illyria noted, half turning towards Fred who had dropped the bat to the carpet and was now wincing and shaking her right hand because of the stinging sensation caused by the vibration running back up the bat when she'd struck her double.

'I didn't want to have to clear up the metal shards afterwards' Fred replied with a shrug. 'Axes, Swords and things react badly to Illyria' she told her parents. 'They tend to shatter' she explained.

Roger and Trish Burkle looked at them barely able to grasp all of this. Frankly their last visit to LA to see Fred when they'd faced the incident with the huge bug demon had been a _lot_ easier to take. 'You hit her on the head with a baseball bat' Trish stated in a surprisingly calm voice but she was clearly having some trouble coming to terms. She didn't really know what shocked her more, seeing her sweet little girl swing the bat like she'd had a lot of practice doing things like that or its utter lack of effect.

'I wouldn't have done it if I'd have hurt her Mom' Fred responded quickly. 'I just thought it would make the story a bit more believable' she told her.

'It would take considerably more physical effort and a far heftier weapon to cause me any form of blunt-force trauma injury' Illyria noted with a smile. 'I am not as physically fragile as Fred or yourselves despite my outward appearance.'

'You're a demon god from the past who came here from the future and who possessed _another _Fred from an alternate universe and now you live here in LA and you fight evil?' Roger Burkle said then paused 'And you've got superpowers?' he added eventually, looking around to his wife who was also apparently even further from getting to grips with the situation than he was. To be fair it was verging on the downright surreal.

'I'm so glad you used to watch all those sci-fi shows with me growing up Dad' Illyria replied with a smile. 'I mean with her' she corrected herself and indicated Fred. 'Want to see some of the other stuff I can do?' she asked brightly. For some reason that was only explicable in terms of the influence of the shells memories, she had the overwhelming desire to show off in front of her, or rather Fred's, parents. Illyria stood up and backed away from the table, 'So this is what I _really_ look like now' she told them.

Illyria morphed from her human form, what she sometimes called her "Ria" persona, into her natural form, with her red and black armour covering most of her body and patches of blue skin showing where flesh was still visible, most noticeably in the broad streak on her forehead. Even her lips were light blue and gave her features almost a frigid coldness. Her eyes changed from looking human into a glacial blue within blue crystal which caught the light and glistened with a gemlike quality.

'Oh my God' Trish exclaimed, her hand moving to cover her mouth. Roger Burkles eyes widened and he started to move protectively between Illyria and his wife.

Illyria cringed and changed back immediately, 'Please don't be scared' she said hurriedly. 'I won't hurt you, I couldn't' she declared, visibly shaken by the idea that the Burkes might be afraid of her. It had been the same when she pretended to be Fred in the original timeline and they had visited, the very idea of causing them distress felt stomach-churningly awful.

Fred looked at Illyria in wonderment, she looked like she might cry. Her father had reached over to take her mothers free hand and was squeezing it reassuringly. 'It's okay Mom' she said 'you get used to it honestly, take a closer look this time' she said. 'Illyria change again' she requested.

The Old One looked at Trish and Roger and still looking very upset she reverted back to her armoured form. It was amazing how much less intimidating she looked without the usually imperious body language. 'I can change my outward appearance at will' Illyria explained relieved that Trish didn't shrink back this time, her curiosity overriding her fear, 'well as regards clothing anyway' she continued. Her voice had altered too, when in human form she sounded like Fred right down to the soft Texan twang, but in this form her voice was colder, harsher to listen to. 'My armour protects me from injury against the strongest of opponents' she told them, 'it is much more comfortable and less binding than I am told it looks' she added opening her opening her arms to afford them a better look and even spinning slowly around.

'Can… can I touch it' Trish asked nervously.

Illyria nodded and moved around the table to stand next to her and offered her arm. Trish gingerly took her hand then ran her fingers up Illyria's arm. 'It looks like leather but it feels cold, more like metal but softer like plastic' she said feeling the texture and testing the yield of the material.

'Under impact it hardens and would seem even more metallic' Illyria told her. 'It spreads the force over a larger area to reduce the possibility of internal injury' she explained. 'If it is cut it will heal itself like skin and it adjusts to heat or cool the wearer as required by the ambient conditions.'

'Clever' Roger Burkle remarked. He still eyed the "woman" with suspicion, having her look like his daughter just made it worse.

'It was my own design' Illyria told him proudly. 'Wearing such armour gave my warriors a huge advantage in battle' she said. 'I have been trying to find a way to replicate it but with no success as yet' she continued. 'It is partially alive so a combination of cloning techniques and magic may make it possible in time, though it will likely be decades at best, centuries at worse, before I can make more.'

'Centuries?' Trish repeated.

'Illyria plans long term… she's immortal' Fred told her. 'Even before she was banished to the Deeper Well for eons she had already lived for millennia.'

'I do not know if this shell is as durable as my original form but it will certainly last for many thousands of years at the very least' Illyria told them. 'The compound interest on my savings account will make my eventual retirement very comfortable' she joked with a smile that was somehow warm despite her skin tones.

'You make jokes?' Trish said. 'She makes jokes?' she asked Fred.

Fred nodded. 'Sometimes they're so dry you don't notice until later, and sometimes you think she's made a joke but she hasn't, but to be honest she gets more laughs out of people than I do' she admitted.

'Humour based about maiming people seems to go down better than the science related jokes you make that only a few people get' Illyria advised her double. 'I was meaning to broach that subject with you eventually' she told her.

'You're invulnerable and _immortal?_' Roger asked, looking at his daughter's warped twin with growing wonderment.

Illyria shrugged. '_Almost_ invulnerable' she admitted. 'I can also see higher and lower wavelengths of light than you so I can see both ultraviolet light and infra red heat, and I have what you would think was zoom vision' she told them. 'I have a better sense of smell than you, I don't need to sleep and I can eat… well just about anything whether it's organic or not but Mexican is my favourite, Fred and I often go to eat together, we pretend to be twins if we're out, it's the easiest cover story.'

'I've seen her eat crockery' Fred told them. 'It was amazing the first time I saw that but poor Wesley went ballistic, it was part of his favourite tea-set.'

'He still makes complaints about that though I have apologised profusely on many occasions' Illyria noted sadly, then suddenly she smiled again. 'Wesley is my boyfriend' she said. 'I hope you approve?' she asked the Burkles. She really earnestly hoped they did, their opinions mattered to her greatly though it naturally bothered her at some other level that they did.

'Your boyfriend?' Trish repeated. 'You're _dating_?' she asked incredulously.

Illyria morphed back into her Ria persona, they seemed more at ease with that as she could well understand. 'Yes for a few months now' she said. 'He was resistant at first, I think the idea of a relationship with me disturbed him, but we are very happy together' she said. 'Don't you think?' she asked Fred for support.

Fred nodded her agreement, Wesley had remarked it was like dating a female demony version of Genghis Khan sometimes but he certainly seemed the happiest and was probably the most stable he'd been in quite some time.

Trish looked to her husband then to Fred. 'So are you… are _you_ seeing anyone?' she asked quietly. At least that was a question she _had_ intended to be asking when they'd walked into the Hotel to begin with.

'No Mom, not at the moment' Fred answered.

Trish looked away and thought about that for a few seconds then she turned back to Fred. 'So… um… have you considered dying your hair?' she asked.

**Psychiatric Ward – Los Angeles – August 2003**

'We should have collected her as soon as Illyria told us' Faith stated quietly looking around. The bars on the windows and the cage doors made her extremely uncomfortable, it was like being back in prison only with that hospital vibe going on too for good measure.

Buffy sighed. 'We needed to prepare a few things first, like lay in enough sedatives to knock out King Kong for a start and get her room ready' she whispered back.

'Her cage you mean' Faith replied coldly.

'It looks a lot nicer than where she is now' Buffy noted. 'She hasn't got anyone else and these people can't handle her in the long term. We know she breaks out eventually, we're saving lives here' she pointed out. 'Back in the old days the Council would have given her a shot of something a lot stronger than Thorazine.'

Faith stopped looking around and concentrated on the floor. 'Guess I'm just sore that I'm going to lose the psycho-slayer nickname' she said. 'Do you know how much effort I had to put in to get that' she asked with a half smile. 'I mean it made me unique but now I'm just going to be the second craziest girl in the business.'

Buffy looked at her and chuckled. 'Faith as far as I'm concerned you'll always be the number one crazy bitch in my life.'

'Thanks B' Faith replied. 'I guess I just needed the reassurance' she told her with a grin then wiped it off when Giles reappeared.

'I'm still not sure what you think you can do for her Doctor' the man walking alongside Giles said to him.

Giles signed the form he'd been given and passed it to the nurse who reached out for it. 'We've been making great strides in treating patients with histories like hers Doctor Rabinaw' he said. 'Our combination of drug treatment and in-depth psychiatric care has worked wonders and Dana seems the ideal candidate for the next stage of the trials' he said with a confident professional smile. 'And of course the entire program is being run free of charge thanks to donations from our benefactors.'

Rabinaw took a deep breath. 'I would advise keeping her heavily sedated for the trip, although hysterical strength amongst such patients is not unheard of Dana's is simply… well I've never seen anything like it' he stated. 'Until recently she was practically catatonic but in recent months her symptoms have shifted radically both in terms of her propensity for extreme violence and her permanently agitated state.'

Buffy and Faith looked at each other, they were lucky she didn't start cracking skulls and ripping out jugulars the moment the potentials were activated.

'Nurse LeHane would you wheel Dana to the Ambulance please' Giles requested.

'Yes Doctor' Faith replied and went to take over from the orderly who was wheeling the sedated girl towards them. She thought the Nurses outfit she was wearing looked damned stupid too but to be fair both Buffy and herself had attracted some very appreciative looks when they'd dressed up back in the Hyperion before they headed out. Spike looked like he might cry when he saw Buffy in the get up and Xander had an even dopier expression than normal. Hiring the Ambulance was easy, as was getting the necessary documentation forged, money could get you anything if you had the right contacts.

Buffy stood up, she was carrying a clip board and the Doctors Bag Giles had bought with him. Needless to say it really was stocked up with thorazine as well as some of the really strong tranquillisers they usually kept for demons. Nobody wanted Dana coming around before she was somewhere she could be contained, they were going to try and help her as only other slayers really could, or would actually care enough to want to, but they didn't want to risk getting killed in the process. A flat-out insane girl with superhuman strength was not something you wanted to take chances with.

After finishing up they put Dana in the back of the ambulance and strapped her down, well she was chained into place which amounted to the same thing but sounded a whole lot less medieval to Buffy's way of thinking.

'She looks peaceful' Faith said stroking Dana's hair away from over her face. 'We really _are_ going to help her right, I mean keep trying?' she asked. 'Not just keep her locked up if it's too much trouble to keep at it?'

'She's one of us' Buffy replied simply, getting closing the doors of the Ambulance behind her taking position next to Faith watching the comatose young girl as she was, Giles getting into the passenger seat up front with Wesley driving, having stayed outside with the vehicle in case a quick getaway was necessary.

'I was one of us' Faith pointed out. 'Angel was the only one that never gave up on me.'

Buffy sighed. 'Okay fair point but unless she turns evil and gets a job working for a politician that wants to become a giant snake, tries to kill me and sleeps with my boyfriend we won't give up on her alright?'

Faith thought about that. 'Damn B I've got one hell of a resume don't I?'

'Like I said Faith, you'll always be the number one crazy bitch as far as I'm concerned' Buffy told her.

'You've got a lot to live up to girl' Faith told Dana then looked away. 'Gives you a different perspective on how hard you think your life's been when you hear about hers don't it' she said as the Ambulance pulled away.

Buffy looked at Dana, she looked so peaceful right now. 'Parents killed in front of her when she was a couple of years younger than the twins, tortured for months by some sick twisted bastard and then locked up in an asylum' she said then paused. 'We could wipe her memories you know.'

Faith shook her head. 'No quick fixes that might not hold, we do it right' she said.

'She's your problem if you want her' Buffy said. 'The rest of us are probably too sane to empathise' she noted with a wink.

'Okay so are you saying that every slayer that goes off the deep end from now on is going to be sent to _me_ for counselling?' Faith asked suspiciously.

'Call it penance' Buffy replied laughing.

Faith narrowed her eyes at Buffy. 'I call it punishment' she declared.

'Community Service' Buffy told her, 'paying something back to slayer society for bringing it into disrepute.'

Faith crossed her arms. 'And how long am I going to have to do this for?' she asked.

'I don't know exactly' Buffy replied, 'how long are you expecting to live?' she asked tongue-in-cheek.

Faith growled. 'I'm so going to the Union, I've got rights you know' she said. 'The Man is sticking it to the working stiff again.'

'I'm the man?' Buffy asked.

'You the man B, you the _man_' Faith told her grinning.


	17. Chapter 17

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – August 2003**

'She portalled them to Hawaii?' Faith repeated. 'Seriously?' she asked.

Wesley shrugged. 'They got a refund on the flight tickets, they're supposed to call her when they want to be picked up' he told her. 'Well it certainly added something to their holiday experience' he added.

Faith grinned. 'Hard to imagine Blue as the dutiful daughter' she said.

Wesley chuckled. 'Fred had a good childhood, from what she's said before Roger and Trish were great parents, I imagine that Illyria's inherited memories and feelings are heavily coloured by that.'

'Great parents' Faith repeated, 'that would have been nice. Hell one decent one would have been enough.'

'Depends how bad the other one is' Wesley responded with a frown then he smiled. 'I've never been presented to parents as a boyfriend before' he said. 'That was a strange experience in itself.'

Faith leaned back in her chair. 'You and Blue together is kinda strange full stop' she observed. 'Did Burkle Senior ask your intentions towards his demon almost-daughter?'

'Fortunately not' Wesley replied. 'The entire situation was already beyond surreal already' he told her then looked at his watch. 'Where the hell is Giles? He called us in here' he asked looking around the room. Xander had only just finished converting it from a suite for use as a conference room instead. He'd done a good job too, say what you like about him the young man was very good at his job, along with some contractors he'd hired he had already managed to renovate quite a large section of the Hyperion.

Buffy walked back in and sat down next to Faith. 'Still no Giles?' she asked putting down the coffee she'd fetched for herself.

Faith shook her head. 'Wes and me were starting to think we'd got the wrong time' she replied.

'Bad timekeeping is not a Giles trait' Buffy noted, 'something must be going on, is there another apocalypse due or something I don't know about' she asked Wesley.

Wesley shook his head. 'Nothing in my diary for this week' he replied wryly.

'Sorry I'm late, got distracted by something I had to do right away' Giles said breathlessly entering the room and closing the door behind him. He dropped into a chair around the conference table and looked at the three sat their waiting for him. 'I'll get straight to the point I'm going back to England' he said simply.

Buffy's jaw dropped. 'You can't' she said. 'I can't run this operation without you, I can barely remember all the names let alone organise everyone. Can't someone else run the Council back there?' she asked. 'I thought Wesley's Dad was doing that?'

'Calm down Buffy' Giles told her. 'I'm not going back permanently, just for a few weeks' he said. 'There are things that need to be sorted out and I can't do that from here.'

Buffy sighed with relief. 'Council business?' she asked.

Giles shook his head. 'More personal and legal' he replied. 'There are outstanding issues regarding Emily and the twins, and Stephen for that matter. They're all coming with me.'

'Putting them into boarding school?' Wesley asked.

Giles sighed. 'Sorting out their parents estates for one thing' he replied. 'They inherit of course and that needs to be dealt with' he said then paused. 'And I'm going to obtain legal guardianship of the girls' he told them. 'The necessary documentation and legal proceedings are already underway through the Council's Lawyers' he told them.

Buffy looked at him. 'You're adopting them?' she asked.

Giles took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. 'They asked me to' he said. 'I wasn't enthusiastic about the idea but I think they need someone to look after them who understands their situation and won't call in a child psychologist when they talk about being hunted by Harbingers, or having the First Evil appear as their dead mother' he told them.

'I never heard about that' Buffy noted. It wasn't surprising though, Dawn had experienced the same thing.

'They were warned to expect it' Giles replied. 'They were upset at the time but not overly distraught and there was so much else going on I can see why it never came up' he told her. 'I think everyone who was with us in Sunnydale caught the First's little show at one time or another.'

'So three daughters?' Faith said. 'They are so going to have you wrapped around their little fingers' she told Giles.

Buffy smiled. 'For what its worth I think they could do a lot worse' she told him reaching over and taking his hand. 'I bet Dawn would say the same thing' she added. The fact was he had been almost a father to both of them at times and while they'd fallen out over some things she never doubted he was trying to do what he thought was best for her. His judgement wasn't always necessarily right but his intentions were good.

Giles smiled back at her. 'Thanks for saying that' he replied. 'Frankly I'm scared stiff' he admitted. 'That was probably why I held off the decision so long.'

'So why are we here?' Faith asked. 'You could have sent out a memo.'

'Well I thought that as the Senior Slayers Buffy and yourself should be told first, as for Wesley in my absence I need to ask him to take the role of lead watcher.'

Wesley looked at him and half smiled. 'With you absent, and Stephen too for that matter, aren't I in fact the _only_ watcher?' he asked.

'And I couldn't have chosen a better man for the job' Giles replied deadpan.

'Assuming there actually _was_ a choice I'd be happy to take over' Wesley replied wryly. 'In fact I am, by default, highly honoured' he added rolling his eyes.

'Does he get a raise?' Faith asked. 'You've got to watch out for these two' she warned, Wesley indicating Giles and Buffy, 'they'll give you more work but stiff you on the extra salary saying it's good for "personal development" or some shit.'

'Good point' Wesley agreed crossing his arms.

Faith crossed her arms to match Wesley. 'Got to look after my homeboys interests' she replied.

Giles looked at the pair of them and then to Buffy. 'Don't let these two warp innocent young slayer minds in my absence' he told her. 'I don't want to come back and find the girls hanging around drunk in sleazy bars, or starting to talk to their guns' he requested.

'There's nothing wrong with talking to your guns' Wesley replied deadpan, 'It's only when they talk back that you need to worry' he told him.

'Hey he just called you a gun nut' Faith interjected. 'He accused _me_ of being a girl that gets drunk in sleazy bars' she said in an annoyed tone.

'No the getting drunk in sleazy bars would apply to both of you' Giles told her.

'Hey we don't have to sit here and get abused' Faith told him.

'Why where do you usually go?' Buffy asked grinning, unable to resist it.

'Don't worry Faith' Wesley told her. 'Their reign of terror, personal insults and quips at our expense will shortly come to an end' he said 'With Giles gone Buffy will not be able to resist alone and we will rebuild the organisation in our image, slayers will be sassy, remorseful and have cleavage, watchers will be scruffy, wake up with hangovers and date demons' he declared doing his best impression of a super-villain. 'The forces of evil will crumble before us because they won't be sure if we're on their side or not and they'll be far too confused to fight back' he claimed. 'I have seen the future and it will be _glorious_' he told her grandly.

'Yes Master' Faith said sycophantically trying hard not to laugh because it would have ruined the moment.

Giles and Buffy looked at each other. 'If you have to use the scythe on them, remember how much blood stains and do it in one of the rooms that hasn't had a new carpet fitted yet' Giles stated seriously. 'I have seen the price per square foot and it's _horrendous._'

**Sewers – San Francisco – August 2003**

Amanda splashed along the sewer pipe trying not to think to hard about it. 'Head on up the coast they said, show the girls a bit more of California they said' she said bitterly. 'Well are you enjoying it so far?' she asked.

'Seen one sewer you've seen them all' one of the slayers following her replied. 'Why do we keep getting these jobs?' she asked. 'We missed out on the big beach party and now this.'

'I think I'm unlucky' Amanda replied. 'Although I didn't used to be until I got given you two to look after, so maybe one or both of you is unlucky instead' she suggested.

'Could just be a team effort' the third suggested.

'Maybe' Amanda agreed, 'but I'd rather be here than with Rona down in San Diego' she said. 'More heat means more smell' she pointed out.

'I heard that Molly's team is going to Phoenix next week' one of the girls said, 'and that Kennedy gets the Cleveland Hellmouth the week after that.'

Amanda nodded. 'Principal… I mean Robin Wood is out there sorting out an office and somewhere to stay. They'll be rotating girls through there because it's supposed to be demon central and Buffy was worried about burnout.'

'I wouldn't mind some more action' the other girl said. 'LA is getting boring, we thinned out the demons too much too fast.'

'That's why we're here' Amanda replied. 'Hunting might be bad in Los Angeles but there's still plenty to slay other places.'

'Do you think we could get Europe? I'd love to see Europe.'

'I bet the European sewers look exactly the same… only older' Amanda replied. 'And they're going to have slayers based in their own countries as much as possible, it helps to speak the language for a start.'

Amanda paused and held up her arm fist clenched. It told the other two to stop moving and be quiet. She thought she'd heard something.

Chanting, that was definitely chanting, the demon snitch they'd rousted the night before was right. It looked like the vampire cult they were tracking was down here after all.

Amanda checked the spring loaded stake mechanism on her left wrist then the new collapsible sword on her right the other two girls doing likewise. They were each carrying a spare stake, a combat knife and an automatic pistol too but Buffy wanted them to use the new gadgets Emil had delivered to get used to them as much as possible and report back on how they handled.

After checking they were still functioning, deploying clean and smooth, the three slayers had the mechanisms fold back into position concealed under their sleeves and started to move again silently as they could. They were confident they could beat anything they ran into, or at worse shoot their way back out, but the element of surprise was not to be squandered lightly. Ideally they'd get the drop on them and take them out without giving the vamps a chance to fight back, heroic single combat face to face between champions of good and evil might be the old way to do things but sneaking up on something and decapitating it from behind was a lot smarter. One of the other things they carried by default was a wire garrotte, it just didn't work too well on things that don't breathe.

The chanting got louder as they approached. Finally they reached a corner and Amanda slid out her combat knife to use as a mirror to check around it.

There was a raised platform used as a maintenance area with plenty of activity. Vamps in robes check, symbols drawn on the sewer walls in what looked like blood check, two young girls tied up waiting for sacrifice check, Amanda thought to herself, putting the knife away again using hand signals to pass on the information to the others. The layout prevented a surprise attack, unless she wanted to swim through the sewer water and that wasn't going to happen.

Howling a battle-cry the three slayers charged around the corner, okay so the view of the bay wasn't too good from here, there were still plenty of fun things for a tourist to get up to.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – August 2003**

Buffy wandered into the lobby and surreptitiously looked the young woman up and down, Cordelia was right, she _was_ overdressed for a girl who was here to spend the night in a cage. 'Hey Nina' she greeted her.

The arts student turned and forced a smile, she knew the story. Buffy was Angel's ex and there was still definitely something going on between them though what that something actually was nobody seemed to know, including them it seemed. 'Hey Buffy how's the slaying business?' she asked.

'To be honest I spend a lot more time doing paperwork now than actual slaying' Buffy admitted. The blond had been coming here regularly since she'd been turned into a werewolf and she'd got to know quite a few of the crew in that time as well as absorbing a lot of backstory, it was surprising how accepting of things and open to new ideas you could be when you started getting very hairy and wanting to rip out throats for a few nights a month.

Nina looked around. 'Where's Angel?' she inquired trying to make it sound as nonchalant a query as possible.

'He's downstairs checking your accommodation for the night' Buffy replied. For that matter he was a bit overdressed for the occasion too, while pretty much everything he owned clothes wise was the same colour not all of it was as well tailored as his current ensemble. 'Clarissa is the duty slayer tonight just so you know.'

'She's got the tranquilliser gun?' Nina asked, 'and the silver bullets?' she added in a rather more nervous tone.

Buffy nodded. She had to give Nina credit, she had issued instructions that if she somehow broke out and the tranq gun didn't work fast enough then she wanted someone to kill her before she hurt anyone, for that reason Wesley had made up a full clip of silver bullets just in case.

Nina checked her watch, time was getting on. 'I'd better get myself comfortable down in the pound' she joked. That was credit-worthy too in Buffy's book, Nina had a sense of humour about the thing and joked about it like Oz had sometimes done. Wallowing in self pity about her condition would have gotten old fast but the fact that Nina had actually laughed when she found out the girls had nicknamed her "Lassie" was endearing.

'See you in the morning' Buffy told her. 'Don't be late for breakfast, Andrew scowls at anyone who isn't on time and there's always someone that eats more than their fair share of the chocolate croissants… I think it's my sister but I haven't caught her in the act yet.'

'I would have guessed Fred' Nina replied with a smile. Tales of the physicists ability to eat were the stuff of legend, even amongst people that regularly got involved in the stuff of real legends.

'No I've had _her_ under close surveillance since she somehow ate like a dozen peoples share of the bacon' Buffy replied. 'We thought she was Illyria in disguise because it didn't seem like it was physically possible but then blue walked in wanting Chorizo and Eggs.'

Nina grinned, 'I'll be there right on time as long as someone remembers I'm down there and they need to unlock the cage door for me.'

Buffy chuckled. 'Hey that only happened once' she responded. 'You got forgotten about during a shift change.'

'I was rattling my water bowl on the bars for half an hour trying to get somebody's attention' Nina said. 'I was all howled out already' she said smiling. 'So see you at breakfast. Goodnight Buffy' she said heading for the basement.

'Goodnight Nina' Buffy replied and headed for the reception desk. Anya was there typing away at a keyboard a large flat-screen monitor blocking out half her face. 'Sorry you have to do an extra couple of hours' Buffy apologised. 'We'll have someone to take over Emily's shifts at the front desk by tomorrow' she told Anya. 'They flew out more suddenly than I thought they would. If it makes you feel better Angel got stuck with the most extra work, he's taken over fencing training with Giles and Stephen away and you _know_ how much he likes dealing with large groups.'

'That's alright' Anya replied, not looking away from the screen, 'I needed to get this finished anyway and Xander isn't taking me out until gone Nine' she replied.

Buffy leaned against the desk. 'So you and Xander are getting serious again' she said. 'Be careful there okay?'

Anya looked up. 'Don't worry I won't hurt him' she said coldly.

'No I meant him hurting _you_ again' Buffy replied causing Anya to look slightly surprised. 'Xander's my friend but be careful, I know how upset you were when he broke off the wedding and you don't deserve that again. I don't think anybody does' she told her.

'He's more mature now' Anya replied. 'Maybe I am too' she added. 'But if he did do anything to me like that again I'll beat him to death with one of his hammers.'

Buffy considered that. 'Sounds fair' she told her then smiled as did Anya. 'So what are you working on?' she asked.

'Inventory and accounts' Anya replied. 'Fred and Knox put together this encryption thing for the computers that they say is pretty much uncrackable so we can start putting things onto spreadsheets we used to have to keep on paper so we could burn them if necessary.'

Buffy pursed her lips. They did sometimes skirt around the law these days, much of what they were involved in would be best kept from prying eyes. 'I guess this will make things easier for you?' she asked.

'Well it would if I was a whiz with computers but I've been taking lessons and I'm getting better' Anya told her. 'It's certainly making the bookkeeping a less boring task, the sums involved were starting to make the process time consuming.'

'All that money in our accounts proving a burden?' Buffy asked with a smile. Anya provided weekly updates, they were making a fortune on investments.

'No but ploughing it back into stocks we know are about to rise, then transferring the profits and cleaning it through our accounts in Switzerland and Bermuda, and _then_ putting it back in the market without the SEC thinking insider trading is a chore' Anya told her. 'It's like being a master criminal without actually breaking the law unless you include the laws of physics and causality because time-travelling demon gods with stock market tips from the future might qualify there.'

'But would you like to go back into selling magical trinkets instead?' Buffy asked with a wink.

Anya smirked. 'With what you're paying me to do this I don't think so' she told her. 'In any case this job comes with free board and lodging, a sense of purpose and people who don't judge you harshly because of your history because lots of them have done _far_ worse things than I _ever_ did during my vengeance demon days.'

Buffy nodded, there was that of course she thought. 'Lots of them?' she asked.

'Well _some _of them anyway' Anya conceded. 'I need to get on with this is' she said brusquely. 'Is there anything you want or are you just looking for people to talk to?' she asked. 'Find Spike, he'll always talk to you, it'll be really awkward for both of you and you won't find the right words but at least _he's_ not busy.'

Buffy looked at her, the more things change the more things stay the same. Anya, subtle and mindful of others feelings as ever, well at least she treated people with more consideration than Illyria, the Blue Meanie had driven many slayers to tears in her appraisal of their fighting techniques, and occasionally even their tastes in music or wardrobe. Illyria had a very simple approach to all things, she approved of it or it was completely wrong, it took arrogance and self-belief to new heights and was often overwhelming for certain personalities. Slayers could be just as insecure as any other teenage girl could be and Illyria was largely indifferent to feelings, she didn't really like her own for the most part. 'I'll probably go see what DVD's they're putting on the big screen tonight' she told Anya. The 63 inch plasma screen they'd hung on the dining room wall wasn't exactly like going to the cinema but with the big stereo sound system connected it usually had an audience, usually of girls arguing of what they wanted to watch as it happens but after the argument was settled, and popcorn distributed, it was a reasonable way to pass a couple of hours if you weren't going to a club.

'See you later then' Anya told her and got back to work. Buffy _really_ needed a boyfriend she thought to herself.

**Apartment Building – Los Angeles – August 2003**

Raising the small binoculars again Connor watched from the roof of the building across the street and smiled as he verified his success. Finally tracked the son-of-a-bitch down, he thought happily, watching them through the window. It was surprising how many times she'd managed to lose her after she's left the office, she was clearly being careful to avoid a possible tail, but each time had narrowed down the area a bit more and finally he'd hit paydirt.

Reaching into his pocket Connor pulled out his cellphone and made the call. 'Hey Anya it's Connor' he began. 'Tell Buffy to get a retrieval team together for a mission ASAP' he told her, 'yeah that's right, tranquillisers and tasers' he continued, 'Oh and tell Spike I've got some good news' he added. 'Tell him I've tracked down Lindsey McDonald.'


	18. Chapter 18

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

**Apartment Building – Los Angeles – August 2003**

Eve opened her eyes and screamed, it wasn't actually her first loud cry of the night and wouldn't unduly alarm the neighbours, but it was the first that had a visual as well as aural audience. Lindsey half rolled, half jumped off her just as the light was switched on illuminating the shadowy shapes, and he found himself staring into at a pair of tazer guns and what looked like a tranquiliser pistol held by a trio of grinning, and in one case also blushing, females.

'Sorry we _were_ going to let you finish' the blond standing closest to the bed told them apologetically.

'Well one of you at least' the dark haired girl standing next to her added. 'I was betting on him to win the race, he was putting more into it' she told Eve with a wink.

Lindsey was usually a lot more quick witted than this, you don't get too far up the ladder at Wolfram and Hart if you can't think fast on your feet, but getting caught stark naked in a bed during the middle of sex had really thrown off his game. He just looked at the three girls wide-eyed and pulled the sheet to cover himself as best he could, Eve doing likewise.

'Faith' Lindsey said eventually, collecting his wits. 'Long time no see.'

'Hey Lindsey, didn't get to see quite so much last time either' Faith replied grinning. 'This is Buffy and the redhead whose cheeks are turning the same colour is Vi' she introduced her companions. Vi waved hello with her free hand while keeping a steady aim with her tranquilliser pistol, if you wanted somebody shot at she was the go-to girl and besides which she was on duty that night, most of the other experienced slayers were out clubbing, some dancing others with actual clubs.

Lindsey ground his teeth, why the hell couldn't slayers need an invitation like vampires he thought angrily? 'What the hell do you want' he growled. He was also wondering how the hell they'd found him but that wasn't exactly a priority question right now.

'Couple of things actually' Buffy told him. 'First we want to know how we can make Spike corporeal again, and we know you know how so don't deny it' she said quickly as Lindsey opened his mouth to reply and promptly snapped it shut again. 'And second we're really interested in all this hardcore mojo we heard you picked up in Tibet' she continued. 'Those symbols you've got all over you, and the magics that go along with them, well they'd be pretty darn useful in our line of work for a start.'

'Stealth Slayers' Faith interjected, 'see we already came up with a name' she told him happily. 'Invisible to detection spells and electronic surveillance, well like B says we could really have fun there.'

'Then there's the enhanced strength and that knife becoming a sword thing we've been told about' Buffy added. 'Well lets face it you're just chock full of useful information' she told him with a friendly smile. 'Put your clothes on and come quietly or we'll give you fifty thousand volts, chloroform you and drag you along with us naked instead' she said. 'Leaving with us is compulsory, whether you do it with dignity is entirely up to you.'

'You too Eve' Faith told her. '_Can_ you come quietly?' she asked curiously. 'You didn't before' she added. 'Yeah we've been here a while' she told her with a smirk. Eve glared at her and muttered something under her breath. Faith doubted it was complementary somehow.

'Leave her out of this' Lindsey said sharply.

'What and miss out on the chance to find out more about what makes a Child of the Senior Partners tick, an immortal one at that?' Buffy asked. 'Hell I might even ask about her time at UC Santa Cruz' she said in an off-handed manner turning to Eve. 'You betrayed Wolfram and Hart for this Okie why not go the whole hog and rat out their dirty little secrets to us too?' she asked. 'You might know a few things worth us not informing them what you've been up to.'

Eve's jaw dropped, how the _hell _did they know so much?

'He's thinking about trying his luck' Vi said in a calm manner, her tranq gun aimed at his chest, 'I can see it in his eyes.'

Faith shook her head. 'We've got three vampire slayers in here with stun guns and if you think we don't have backup a few yards away you're trippin' she told Lindsey in a way that indicated she was far from bluffing and would _love_ him to try.

The expression on Buffy's face hardened as she decided to make a show of force. 'If he tries anything at all' she told Vi, 'kneecap him' she ordered flatly.

Vi nodded and slid a silenced automatic from inside her jacket with her free hand. 'There's a round chambered' she told Lindsey, 'and I'm a really good shot' she advised him honestly. She didn't think she could actually kill him, he was still human after all, but wounding him was another matter.

Lindsey looked at the automatic, the idea of some damn sidekick or flunkey shooting him was enough of a threat in itself. Throughout his life maintaining his pride, as his father had failed to do, was always at the back of his mind. Even losing his hand had a bit of a redeeming side in that it had been the infamous Angel himself that had done it not just some bozo. Having the nonentity there pop a round into him was too appalling to contemplate.

'Angel wanted to come along' Buffy told Lindsey, 'but there was the whole invitation thing and he wanted to get a few things ready back at the Hotel.'

'Brass knuckles, pliers, rubber hoses… you know the drill' Faith told him. 'Did you Wolfram and Hart types use a drill much during interrogations because we've got this battery operated one that… well you'll find out' she said trying to keep a straight face.

'I'm sure you're feeling really pleased with yourselves right now' Lindsey said coldly.

'Well I am' Faith admitted. 'What about you B? Feeling good?'

'Five by Five Faith' Buffy replied with a grin. 'You'll forgive us if we don't turn around while you get dressed' she told Lindsey stepping back from the bed keeping her tazer aimed as Lindsey got out and reached for his jeans.

Faith looked Lindsey up and down then tuned to Eve who was trying to look dignified as she prepared to retrieve her own clothes. 'So I guess it's what he does with it that counts right?' she asked.

**Great Russell Street – London – August 2003**

'As you can see' Roger Wyndham-Pryce said leading them into the next room, 'the basic structure of the building is largely intact and now we have cleared up the debris we should be able to completely renovate and repair the offices'

Giles nodded looking around, the walls were charred, and both the floorboards and plaster ceilings missing in places, but otherwise the building was apparently in reasonable condition. Much of it was stone and more than up to surviving a bomb blast, parts of the top floor had even been burned before by a blaze caused by a Luftwaffe Incendiary bomb than had smashed through the roof during the blitz. The Council had rebuilt then and it was rebuilding now.

'Do you know where my fathers body was found?' Stephen Travers asked keeping his emotions under a tight rein. He had silently followed the two men until now taking in the sight and the lingering smell of fire and destruction. The girls were elsewhere, being looked after by Wesley's mother in fact as Giles didn't think they were ready to visit the place their parents had died, but Stephen wanted to see and was forceful in his insistence on doing so.

Roger Wyndham-Pryce straightened up and put his hands behind his back. 'I'm afraid I don't know my boy' he replied honestly. 'The Police investigation prevented us from gaining access to the building for several weeks and the case is still open as it happens, they think it was terrorists of course but they can't figure out who would want to blow up an international antiquities dealership.'

Stephen looked at his feet. 'Did you attend the funerals?' he asked quietly.

The old man took a deep breath. 'As soon as the Council came under attack those of us who were still around went to ground as it were' he replied. 'It would have been unwise to expose those remaining to possible assassination.'

'It would have been foolish to show yourselves at the funerals' Stephen noted. 'I understand' he continued, 'I was keeping my head down too.'

Roger Wyndham-Pryce nodded and to Giles surprise he watched the older man walk over to the boy and put his hand on his shoulder. 'You did your duty' he told him, 'as your family has done for generations' he continued. 'Once the situation with the First resolved itself we naturally arranged for the gravesites to be properly tended for and I have personally visited each one and prayed over them' he said.

'Thank you' Stephen replied.

'No thanks are necessary' Roger Wyndham-Pryce told the young man. 'Your father would have done the same if our positions were reversed, he was a man of great faith who understood the need for tradition and continuity' he continued. 'I was truly glad to learn of your survival and that the Travers name will continue to grace the Council Rolls' he said. 'So many other distinguished watcher dynasties are now a footnote in the histories.'

'I imagine the return of your son to active duty is a relief then on that front' Giles said. 'At least one other of the oldest families continues too.'

Roger Wyndham-Pryce left cheek twitched involuntarily. 'Yes his mother was very happy to hear the news' he replied. 'I must say I was personally surprised but as head of the Council Pro-Tem you of course have the both the authority to reinstate him and naturally I can see the pressing need to recruit any available personnel' he said. 'I must say the way you have somehow managed to control so many slayers with so few watchers is almost wondrous.'

Giles smiled. 'It's more a case of train and educate them rather than control' he replied. 'Buffy Summers is very much in charge of the girls and we do have assistance from others.'

The older man frowned. 'The slayers friends and my son's compatriots you mean' he said. 'Including the vampires Angelus and William the Bloody I believe.'

'Angel has been of great assistance in teaching the new recruits both martial arts and use of melee weapons as was Spike before his current incorporeal state' Giles replied evenly.

'Forty years ago, Spike, as you call him, killed two of my team when we tried to stop him butchering his way through an orphanage' the older man told him coldly. Those men had been his friends and now the creature that did it was now somehow an ally of the Council? The very notion was ridiculous, verging on vile.

'They both now possess a soul' Giles pointed out.

'As too I believe did Adolf Hitler' Roger Wyndham-Pryce replied wryly. Having a soul was, when you think about it dispassionately, zero guarantee of your being righteous into the bargain. 'What do _you_ think about them Mr Travers?' he asked Stephen.

'They have been extremely helpful as Mr Giles says although I naturally remain on guard' he replied. 'Angel _does_ have an unpleasant tendency to mislay his soul on occasion' Stephen replied honestly. 'I must confess however that if I was going to be unduly concerned about someone it would be Illyria' he said. 'If she became a threat I don't know with confidence what we could do to stop her.'

Roger Wyndham-Pryce nodded. 'Both myself and the other retired watchers concur' he replied. 'You might as well be juggling vials of nitro-glycerine, it's probably more stable and less likely to blow up in your face' he declared.

Giles sighed. 'Like the ensouled vampires Illyria has also proven a valuable ally and is probably the only weapon we have that genuinely provokes fear in our greatest enemies' he said. 'In any case several of our number owe her their lives.'

'You say "her" like it's a woman' the elder man replied. 'It is a demon of the highest power, the kind of threat the Council was formed to fight against' he declared.

Giles resisted the urge to smirk. 'I think you'll find that most of us do think of Illyria as a woman' he replied. 'She displays feminine characteristics beyond merely her physical form and despite a certain… what's the word?' he asked Stephen.

'Condescending? Hostile? Vicious?' Stephen offered.

'Despite a certain _strong-willed _element to her character' Giles continued, 'she can actually be quite endearing' he said. 'A childlike curiosity melded to an utter lack of social niceties.'

'And funny' Stephen interjected. 'You're never quite sure if it's intentional but you'll never hear some of the lines delivered better' he said. 'The twins are very fond of her too' he continued. 'And they're not the only ones' he added mischievously earning a glare from Giles. There were some things regarding his son that the elder Wyndham-Pryce should only hear from Wesley, like for instance the remote possibility of blue-haired grandchildren.

'Ah yes the girls' Wyndham-Pryce remembered. 'You're absolutely sure about your idea of taking responsibility for them?' he asked.

Giles took a breath. 'As sure as I can be' he replied honestly.

The older man looked thoughtful. 'My wife has said that if necessary we should take them in' he told Giles. 'We certainly wouldn't countenance them being adopted out of the watcher community or, God forbid, having them placed in a children's home' he continued. 'We have of course raised a child before and although I am rather too old to go chasing after youngsters at my age I would consider caring for the offspring of fallen comrades a duty that I would never shirk' he told him with sincerity.

'The offer does you credit Roger' Giles replied, 'but as you say it is a duty and it is one I am going to undertake myself' he told him. Frankly from what he had gathered from veiled references to his childhood from Wesley he would not inflict the man on anybody as a father even if he had been rather less long in the tooth, but he didn't doubt that the man _meant_ well.

Roger Wyndham-Pryce nodded. 'As you wish' he replied. 'You might want to think about finding yourself a wife though' he advised. 'I assume the girls will continue their watcher training?' he inquired.

Giles nodded. 'If they wish to do so and certainly they do so far' he replied.

'Excellent' the older man responded. 'From what my wife tells me I believe that you and young Emily are something of an item' he asked Stephen. 'You realise of course that Mr Giles will henceforth be obliged to interfere with your relationship now he's taking on the role as her father' he said in an amused tone.

'The implications had not escaped me' Stephen replied evenly.

Giles looked at the young man and inwardly grinned. Well that had a definite possibility of entertainment value attached he thought. When we get back to Los Angeles I'll have to ask his intentions... perhaps whilst cleaning a shogun from the armoury he considered.

Stephen looked at Giles and frowned, there was something in the man's eyes that he found extremely disturbing all of a sudden.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – August 2003**

It wasn't the humiliation of being caught naked in bed by little girls that was the worst thing, or even the fact that for all his new found enhancements he was too outnumbered and outgunned to possibly escape, the worst thing _by far_ to deal with in this situation was the smug fucking expression on that vampires face Lindsey decided as Angel looked back at him across the table. 'What so you think it's all about you?' Lindsey asked looking back with distain.

'No but I bet a lot of it is' Angel replied with a self-satisfied half-smile on his face. 'Even after a couple of years you just couldn't let it go could you? You had to scratch that itch.'

'Not surprised he's got an itch looking at his bird there' Spike interjected. 'Looks like she's been around the block a few times' he added. Eve staring daggers at him in response.

'Bite me' Lindsey retorted. 'Oh sorry you _can't _can you?' he added throwing a smirk in Spike's direction.

Spike crossed his arms thought about it for a few seconds and turned to Angel. 'If you give him a slap right now I'll won't bug you for the next month' he told him.

Angel looked back at Spike carefully, yes that was his sincere look he decided and leaning across the desk in a flash he slapped Lindsey on the side of the head hard rocking him to the side. Lindsey shot up from his chair to retaliate but stopped himself, sitting smoothly back in the chair and quietly seething to himself instead. They'd love an excuse to use one of those stun guns on me, he thought. As well as the two vampires in the room Faith was leaning against the far wall playing with her taser and the redhead was stood behind him ready to either knock him out with a dart or if necessary blow his brains out. Lindsey didn't know if the girl would really shoot him but the notion of being killed by a lackey was distasteful in the extreme.

'Cheers mate' Spike thanked Angel. 'So any more cracks to make?' he asked Lindsey, 'because he doesn't need _that_ much encouragement to hit you.'

'Buffy made him promise not to rough you up while she was gone' Faith noted twirling the Taser in her hand.

'So how do you get away with the pretence you're any better than we are?' Eve asked. 'Violence, altering peoples memories, torture do you like just stick your fingers in your ears and go "la la I'm not listening" when one of your little slayer groupies asks about that stuff?' she asked.

'It's not about the methods, it's about the goals right?' Lindsey asked. 'Ever hear that the path to the Hell-Dimension is paved with good intentions?'

Angel meshed his fingers and rested them on the table. 'Don't try and change the subject and there's no point being a smart-ass' he told Lindsey. 'If we ever did decide you weren't going to talk we'd get rid of those runes you're wearing and leave you to the mercy of the Senior Partners.'

'He's a lawyer' Buffy said re-entering the room, 'he's just negotiating for a better deal' she opined taking a seat next to Angel facing Lindsey and Eve across the table. 'Willow wasn't happy about a truth spell because of all the magics she's sensing off this guy so Wes is getting a syringe of that stuff ready instead, I'm kinda disturbed he actually has something like that in his room.'

'Sodium Pentathal' Angel told Lindsey. 'Truth Drug' he explained in case the lawyer didn't know.

'Sodium Pentathal in a solution with ten-percent Orpheus actually' Wesley told them entering the room carrying a small black case. 'They work surprisingly well together, far more effective and reliable than the truth serum would be otherwise' he said, 'and the Orpheus deals with any magics that might be in place to help resist the other drug.'

'You're not dosing me up with that junk' Lindsey stated narrowing his eyes.

'Well hopefully not no' Wesley replied. 'It's rather expensive.'

Buffy crossed her arms. 'You talk and we don't take the chemical approach' she told Lindsey.

'And if the chemicals don't work we'll just resort to the old fashioned way' Angel added cracking his knuckles for effect.

'I'll work over your girlfriend' Faith told him. 'Fang here has these 18th Century ideas about not hitting women but if you think_ I_ wouldn't rough her up you weren't paying attention when we met before.'

Lindsey flinched. Faith was borderline psychotic as far as he was concerned, when they'd first met he'd watched her pound Lee's face into a table until it was a bloody mess and grin while she did it. He didn't doubt for a second she would give Eve a working over to get her full cooperation or to motivate him, maybe she'd even just do it for kicks. Turning to Eve he reached out and took her hand in his, she looked worried, the stories of what these people were willing to do now were frightening. There was even a rumour they were feeding people to Glory but Wolfram and Hart were unable to confirm that one way or the other, they just knew they were keeping the Hellgod on ice somewhere.

'Well isn't that sweet' Angel remarked sarcastically watching the pair hold hands. 'You know back in my Angelus days I'd have pulled her fingernails out while you watched.'

Spike nodded. 'He was masterful at the work' he conceded. 'Course we're supposed to be the good guys now' he added almost wistfully. 'God it saved time being evil' he said sadly, shaking his head.

'So' Angel began. 'Shall we start with how to make Pinocchio here back into a real boy?' he asked Lindsey. 'Or do I start getting nostalgic?' he added with all the menace he could muster.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_This Fanfic machine runs on reviews..._


	19. Chapter 19

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

**Compton – Los Angeles – August 2003**

Shannon bought up her pistol crossbow and dusted the vamp before he could reload his nine-millimetre. It was a good job he couldn't shoot for shit because if he'd had the remotest idea of how to aim a pistol she would have been dead the moment she kicked in the door. As it was the vampire had spun around and started firing wildly holding the Beretta on its side in a classic "gangsta" pose that would have earned her two hundred push-ups if Wesley had ever seen her do that on the range. The automatic was nearly empty already so she only had to dodge three shots before the slide locked back empty and she was able to show him how you were _supposed_ to do it.

The firefight had started out in the street but had quickly ended up inside the tenement block as the three sides fought it out. The slayers were the smallest group involved but they made up in firepower, training and technique what they lacked in numbers.

Dominique appeared next to Shannon and ejected an empty clip from her Glock reloading with a fresh one from her jacket pocket before letting the slide release forward to strip a round into the chamber. 'We're pushing them back on the second floor' she told Shannon, 'but Rona is caught up in some heavy gunplay up on the fourth' she continued. 'We've got three girls caught in a crossfire, Vi is taking her team up to help.'

Shannon nodded as she reloaded her pistol crossbow and transferred it to her left hand sliding her own automatic pistol from its holster into her right. 'We clear the rest of this corridor just in case then we'll join in with Vi' she said.

The French slayer nodded. This was turning out to be a major operation, not one they'd expected when an old friend of Gunns had come to him for help with a gang of vampires. There were actually two rival gangs of vampires who were already at war with each other and the slayers had found themselves as the third player in a gang war, well the fourth player if you included the LAPD guys who were getting their asses kicked at the periphery of the rolling gunbattle.

The sounds of intermittent firing in the floors above were suddenly joined by a flurry of continuous fully-automatic fire which caused Shannon to grin. If she guessed right some vamp had just taken a pot-shot at Vi who had responded with her trusty G-36K introducing the gangster-vamps to the concept of overwhelming firepower by blasting a quick hundred rounds of 5.56mm back at them in response. She wasn't the only girl with one of the carbine assault rifles going either from the sounds of it, two other slayers were now cleared to carry them on Ops after much practice and together the three were used as a heavy-weapons team when they needed to apply a bit more force to a situation. It was starting to sound like World War Three up there Shannon decided as the firing build to a crescendo, at least they'd left the grenade launchers behind for fear of collapsing the building.

A vampire burst out through a doorway ahead as Shannon and Dominique started moving down the corridor. Before it could react the two slayers bought up their pistols and weighed it down with lead, the bullets wouldn't kill the creature but they sure caused plenty of damage and it staggered back before falling to the floor in a bloody heap. Dominique activated the spring loaded stake mechanism on her left wrist and quickly jumped forward and dusted the vampire before it could recover.

'Maybe we should start wearing colours too?' Shannon thought out loud noting the vampires blue bandana which had come off as he fell, and which therefore hadn't burned up with the rest of his clothes.

'I like Green' Dominique replied poking her head around the door that the vampire had come from.

'You'd look good with green ribbons in your hair' Shannon told her. 'I'll put it in the suggestion box back at the Hotel' she said. Buffy would want red to match the scythe and Illyria would campaign hard for blue but those colours were already taken by these guys.

Shannon picked up the bandana and stuck in her pocket as a souvenir. This was turning out to be an interesting sort of day. Best they could figure out back at the end of last year when LA was under the mystical eclipse and amidst the frenzy of vampire activity that ensued, a few members of LA's two most infamous gangs had been fed upon and then turned. They in turn had gone on to turn members of their old crews and eventually there were dozens of them still holding the old grudges except that now the Bloods really _did_ want blood and the Crips liked to hang in Crypts. To quote Faiths reaction, "Vampire gang-bangers? Oh you gotta be shitting me".

After some skirmishing between them over the Orpheus trade, fighting between the two rival undead gangs finally escalated heavily and then spilled into the streets after one of the senior members of one group was killed by a drive-by crossbowing five days earlier. Although the initial reaction from many of the slayers was to let the jerks kill each other off they were replacing their losses and trying to increase in number by turning other members of their former gangs and were otherwise feeding indiscriminately off innocents. It wasn't exactly something the LAPD anti-gang units were up to dealing with so Buffy had ordered a major crackdown sending several slayer patrol teams into the effected areas immediately and keeping backup units like Vi's on standby in case the shit hit the fan. Having the best part of four dozen vampires shooting and staking it out in Compton after dark certainly qualified on that front.

Upstairs Vi ducked and rolled around a corner as a vampire carrying an Uzi in each hand tried to turn her into a colander. It was like a scene from the movies, you couldn't really do that in real life, normally the recoil was too much to possibly control twin machine pistols, but the vampire had the strength to compensate. Fortunately for Vi she on the other hand had the speed and reactions to get the hell out of the way.

'You okay boss?' one of the other slayers called to her from cover.

'Peachy' Vi replied bringing up her G-36K and getting ready to move again. She'd already used up the hundred-round drum she liked to start off a gunfight with and was using thirty-round magazines instead with two clipped together for quick reloading. She also had a bayonet fitted though it was made of wood for this type of work. 'Hey vampire' she called out loudly. 'Save yourself pain, find a nice piece of sharp wood and fall onto it.'

'Fuck you slayer bitch' the vamp snarled back and started firing again.

Vi waited until the Uzi's fell silent popped around the corner and put a burst through the vampire. 'Come on' she yelled and started moving her team following, guns up ready to rock and roll. 'At least those assholes with the red colours put up a fight' Vi declared. 'You guys are pussies' she added reaching the vampire she'd shot and slamming her hardwood bayonet into its chest, exploding it to ash. She was a very different person at times like this, once the adrenaline started flowing and the bullets started flying the normally quiet, inoffensive and basically shy teenager turned into her vamp-taunting, machine-gun toting alter-ego that someone had christened the "gun-slayer". It tended to surprise newbies a lot when they first saw it happen, until they got to watch her in action with their own eyes they tended to think all the talk was just a load of garbage.

'Vi that you?' a familiar voice called out over the sounds of more gunfire nearby.

'Hey Rona' Vi called back, 'so I hear you got surrounded' she said sweeping the corridor with her rifle taking a look around the next corner and finding Rona and her two girls there. One looked wounded, a red patch spreading across the sleeve of her arm, a tourniquet tied higher up not quite stopping all the blood loss.

'We've been waiting for the cavalry to arrive' Rona told her as Vi trotted up to join her.

'Had to be the cavalry' Vi replied. 'Buffy vetoed the artillery' she added. Back in the 4x4 they had enough firepower to take on a small army but when the chief said no explosives, no explosives it was.

'There's at least five or six of them that way' Rona told her pointing with her pistol. 'And a couple more from the other gang down there' she added pointing the opposite direction. 'Firing slackened off a couple of minutes back, I think they're running out of ammo' she told her. 'It was like the Fourth of July here when we arrived.'

'Any civilians?' Vi asked, she hadn't run into any so far.

Rona shook her head. 'One of the gangs has been using this place as a crib' she said. 'I think they already ate the other residents.'

'Okay' Vi said. 'I want plenty of gratuitous violence' she told her team. 'Remember we can shoot through walls easy so if they duck out of sight fire at where they ducked into you might still get them' she said. 'Don't take risks to dust them, a vampire full of five-fifty-six is already out of the game for now we can afford to let them bleed for a few minutes.'

'Yes Ma'am' the two slayers following her replied.

Vi took a breath. 'We'll take the larger group first' she said. 'Rona you watch the other way and keep their heads down, how are you for ammo?'

'Could use some' Rona replied.

Vi handed her one of her own Glocks and a couple of spare clips from a pouch on her belt. She was carrying plenty of rifle ammunition on the harness she was wearing so giving up her spare pistol clips wasn't a big deal and she always carried two automatics having been taught to use either hand to shoot with.

'Okay we'll put the fire down, keep them pinned where we want them, move in and make the kill' Vi said. 'Don't spray and pray, we're close enough to aim and stray rounds could go _anywhere_, remember that we're not the only slayers in the building, friendly fire… isn't' she told them seriously.

Vi grinned. 'Now let's show these walking dust bunnies who the baddest gang in town _really_ is' she told her team shouldering her carbine.

'Yeah it's time to _stake_ out our turf' Rona joked with a grin of her own, getting ready for the end-game an automatic pistol in each hand. 'Slayers represent!' she yelled with the grin still firmly in place and along with her unwounded team-mate she started giving covering fire as Vi and her own girls got moving.

By the time the LAPD finally got into the building it was all over, with nothing left but a lot of dust, a ludicrous number of spent brass cartridge casings and some highly dubious eye-witness accounts about gang members exploding into ash and a gang of teenage girls armed like the 82nd Airborne.

This town had gone all to hell the last few months the chief investigating officer decided.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – September 2003**

The Guardian opened the wooden box and with great ceremony as befitted the occasion she reached inside and lifted out the weapon with great reverence. 'Slayer I present to you…' she began.

'Prototype Scythe version 2.0' Knox interrupted. 'All the mystical stuff from the original but redesigned, cast and machined with state-of-the-art metallurgical techniques not the bronze-age voodoo junk they used on the old one' he declared.

The Guardian turned to Knox and looked like she wanted to take the scythe in her hands and stick it where the sun didn't shine. He seemed totally oblivious to the apparent threat he was too busy feeling pleased with himself.

Buffy ignored the enmity between them and held out her hands to receive the weapon, the Guardian putting aside her anger with Knox and handing it to her. There were only four present in the room which was the Guardians own and decorated much in the style of the old Pyramid back in Sunnydale, Buffy and Faith as the senior slayers plus the two who had made the greatest effort in the new scythes production, Medousa the Ancient Guardian of the Slayer Line and Knox the geeky engineer, former Wolfram and Hart employee and erstwhile Illyria worshipper. Willow would have been there too but she was still trying to get to grips with the information they'd threatened out of Lindsey. Even with Wesley's help on the arcane nature of the knowledge it was going to take a least a few more days to reach the stage where they could make Spike solid again and the glyphs that prevented Lindsey being tracked were also a great deal more complicated in operation than expected. Well at least when you knew something could be done you were well on your way to actually getting it done.

'Oh yeah that's the real thing' Buffy said feeling the power flow through her body as she held the weapon close. It felt slightly different than the original but she had been warned that would be the case. The enchantments and magics that gave the scythe its aura took on some of the nature of those involved in the process which meant that since Willow had helped out with the spellcasting it was part Rosenberg not pure Guardian like the other one. The first scythe had been produced by Medousa and her sisters, ancient immortal women who had been slandered in legend as the Gorgons, but on her own Medousa could not repeat the task. Fortunately the Willow had plenty of magic to throw at the problem and after the activation of the Potentials was already in tune with the scythes power. The Guardian provided the know-how and the Witch provided the juice, between them they could get the job done.

'It looks identical' Faith noted watching Buffy swinging it around, testing the balance.

'Handles a little better' Buffy told her slicing the prototype scythe through the air.

'Perfect balance, I added a few extra grams to the stake mounting' Knox told her smugly. 'The metal itself was forged from alloy made in an electric furnace, and was Investment Casted to be structured along the edge as a single crystal like the turbine blades on a jet engine making it far stronger than any conventional blade' he said, 'even _without_ the enchantment' he added directing a smirk at Medousa. 'We used varying alloys for different parts of the weapon and it's zone-hardened so that the metal is hard and can be properly honed where it needs to be but it's still malleable where stress fractures might otherwise appear' he explained. 'Watch out it's a lot sharper than the old one too' he warned as Buffy made to check the edge with her thumb. 'If you dropped a silk scarf onto the blade it would slice it in two' he claimed then grinned. 'I tried it out, got the idea from watching a Samurai film.'

The Guardian crossed her arms. 'With the aid of Willow I have successfully managed to reproduce the enchantments used by my sisters and myself for the first scythe' she said. 'It will have the same effect on demon-kind and is as unbreakable as before' she claimed. 'We did have to modify many of the spells and rituals to compensate for the changes to the basic materials of the weapon' she said glaring at Knox. 'But we were able to get around the issues that arose through the interference of this meddling alchemist.'

Knox snorted. 'I did the research, ran the numbers, sorted out the manufacturing and got that thing from the drawing board, to the machine shop in three weeks' he said. 'How long did it take you to get the mumbo-jumbo done afterwards?' he asked sarcastically.

'These things require ceremony and proper reverence' the Guardian declared.

'These things require metal polish and some chanting in Ancient Greek' Knox retorted. 'I've already made some design improvements based on issues that came up during the manufacture of the prototype and Scythe Version 2.1 will be ready for serial production when you give the word and sign off the budget' he told Buffy. 'The major bottleneck is going to be down to her' he continued indicating Medousa with a nod of his head. 'I can have a couple of hundred units manufactured by the company I've been dealing with within three to four months but they won't all be mojo-ed up for _years_ at the rate _she_ works at.'

'This isn't like making some wretched sword' Medousa snarled. 'You can't mass produce mystical ritual, put religion on the production line' she stated angrily.

Knox shrugged. 'Heck it's not my problem' he said to Buffy. 'I'll just move onto the next project once the scythes are stockpiled waiting for snakey-locks here to pull her finger out of her ass and charge 'em up' he told her. 'We can use a lot of the same metallurgical techniques to produce superior versions of your existing weaponry' he told the Slayer. 'Add some twenty-first century science into your operation and I can make you some great toys' he declared enthusiastically. 'Forget the chanting put your faith in the scientific method' he told her. 'Back at the old firm you wouldn't believe the progress we made treating magic as a science not an art.'

'The man is as soulless as the machines he worships' Medousa said sadly. 'It is easy to see how he could both serve the Wolf, Ram and Hart and now follow the Old One like some sycophantic lackey.'

'You could learn much from the God-King' Knox retorted. 'Although far more ancient than even you Illyria has the foresight to embrace science' he said proudly.

Medousa sniffed. 'The God-King can kiss my wrinkly ass' she declared causing Faith to burst out laughing. The longer the Guardian spent out in the real world and interacted with people the more contemporary her speech became. Although currently wearing her robes as befitted the ceremony of the occasion she normally dressed like anyone else her _apparent _age. There of course being very few her _actual_ age, at least not who could come out in sunlight.

Buffy handed the new scythe to Faith. 'All yours' she said. 'Try it out in the field' she continued, 'you get out to play more than I do' she noted. Then turned to Knox, 'Go into production' she ordered. 'The sooner we get a scythe in the hands of every slayer the better.'

'At least it'll stop the complaints that you don't share as much as you should' Faith told her.

Buffy rolled her eyes. 'The first time I got talked into sharing a Hellgod turned up, beat me half to death and left me looking like an ice-hockey player' she retorted. At least the false tooth she'd needed to replace the original looked like the real thing in the mirror although Dawn still called her Gummy-Joe sometimes.

Faith chuckled, B made a fair point there she decided. 'Hey' she said to Knox, 'when you start making these in batches could you get them personalised?' she asked.

'I could laser-engrave the shaft without risking any flaws in the structure' Knox replied. 'It would have to be done pre-enchantment though because you'd need a hell of a lot of wattage to cut the metal afterwards.'

'Just number them' Buffy interrupted. 'The scythes will be around long after we are and I doubt some Slayer in the 25th Century is going to want "This belongs to Faith Lehane" on it.'

'Nah but I bet they'd love "Bite Me" on the thing' Faith replied.

Buffy looked at her and frowned. 'Serial Numbers' she said. 'Just put on a serial number so we can keep track.'

'Scythes zero-zero-zero-four and upwards will start rolling off the production line in the next few weeks' Knox replied. 'I'm using an aerospace company as the contractor, they've got the right tolerances of tooling and they're used to exotic alloys.'

'Four?' Buffy asked, 'why four? Wouldn't it be three?'

Knox shook his head. 'There are two 2.0 prototypes' he replied. 'The other one is ready for the spellcasting now.'

'The next one will be quicker to prepare than the last' Medousa interjected.

'I guess Ken gets her scythe early' Faith said.

'She's going to a Hellmouth, she'll need it' Buffy observed.

'Hey you did alright on a Hellmouth for_ years_ without a scythe' Faith pointed out.

'Yeah but _I'm_ Buffy Summers' the other slayer replied tongue-in-cheek. 'Even killing me didn't get the job done, I always bounce back, these new slayers well they're not even _real_ chosen ones like us, just drafted potentials.'

Faith fixed her with a stare. 'And people accuse _Blue_ of egomania' she observed sadly. 'I'm going to go look in on Dana' she told Buffy.

'Be careful' Buffy told her. 'She bit Kelly last night when they were handing her a yogurt to eat. Drew blood and a lot of the girls won't go up there any more.'

'Doesn't that say as much for the taste of that bland, low-fat, healthnut yogurt we keep in the fridge as it does about Dana?' Faith asked. 'Maybe we could get Fang to do a taste test, Kelly might be really good, how would we know?'

'Just try and make sure she doesn't get a taste for blood, we've got enough of that around here as it is' Buffy replied as Faith headed out.

**Vahla ha'nesh – Location Inexplicable – Date Irrelevant**

'You have done an excellent job in clearing the debris' Illyria noted. 'Though the marble steps before my sacrificial altar require considerably more polish' she declared.

Ben scowled back at her. 'Glory cleared out all the crap not me' he replied. 'If you think I'm going to clean this dump for you you've got another thing coming' he declared. 'All I do is eat, read, jerk off and watch DVD's' he told the Old One. 'And I'm going insane in here on my own' he told her. Glory was only around a couple of hours a day, without feeding she couldn't maintain her grip on their shared body and that left Ben in the driving seat most of the time.

'I provided the entertainment and you are often visited by slayers I bring here to test out weaponry they cannot train with in the outside world' Illyria replied. 'There is even an exercise machine for you to use' she pointed out.

'This is a prison' Ben yelled at her. 'And I'm not a criminal.'

Illyria cocked her head, her vertebrae had finally healed and it no longer clicked as she did so. 'As a prison yourself for Glory you should understand the necessity of keeping you here' she told him. 'It is the only way to contain her' she said. 'If I was incapacitated Glory would be free to walk your world and cause untold harm, she cannot escape from this place and is therefore secure within it.'

'And of course Ben here gets the shaft' he replied pointing to himself.

'Do not look to the universe for fairness or equity' Illyria replied, 'you will be sorely disappointed if you do.'

Ben looked to the ground. 'If I spend much more time here I'm going to off myself' he said seriously.

Illyria frowned. 'If you decide to do so please do not stain the stonework with your blood' she told him. 'The sacrificial alter itself would be ideal, it was designed to be easily wiped clean.'

Ben looked back up towards her and bared his teeth. 'You're as inhuman as she is' he hissed. 'What the hell makes you any better?'

'I beat her senseless' Illyria replied, 'might makes right and in any case I am not the threat to humanity that she is, as the fact I choose to imprison a valuable trophy slave here rather than keep her on public display to awe my enemies testifies. It is for _their _protection that you are here, not because there is any great utility in having a groundskeeper for a ruined temple with no worshippers.'

'You'll forgive me doubting you're the great protector of humanity' Ben sneered.

'Your opinion of me weighs less than sunlight' Illyria replied, 'and photons have very little mass.'

The God-King looked around 'I will however try and find a way to help you, I already have an idea that may work though it will take some time to prepare given your unique circumstances' she told him.

Ben's eyes widened. 'Help me how?' he asked.

'Split you from Glory, turn you into distinct beings' Illyria replied. 'I would also have to restrain Glory once she is freed from her prison but a modified Mutari Generator tuned to her aura might be able to drain some of her power to the level where I can still restrain her physically.'

'Split me from Glory?' Ben repeated. 'You're yanking my chain.'

'No' Illyria replied. 'In fact I asked Wesley and Willow to look into the problem and given your unique circumstances they think that the same principles that operate when using a Ferula-Gemina Rod to split an individual into two distinct others might be workable if we put enough power into it.'

'A _what_ Rod?' Ben asked.

'Ferula Gemina' Illyria repeated. 'One was apparently used accidentally on Xander Harris by a Tothric Demon that was attempting to split Buffy Summers into two beings, one without the slayer strength and speed. He was later successfully reintegrated with himself but for a while there were two of him with very different personalities I am told.'

'Is this dangerous?' Ben asked nervously.

'Very likely yes, in fact I have no idea if it would really work as planned, or even kill you outright, but given you are contemplating suicide anyway where is the downside?' Illyria asked reasonably.

Ben stared into the distance, this was a possibility he'd barely let himself dream about. Getting rid of his sister, being free at last, he could go back to medicine, live a normal life. 'You really think this is possible?'

'Possible yes but as to the odds of it working I have no idea' Illyria replied honestly.

Ben blinked. 'I suppose I should thank you for trying' he said.

Illyria nodded. 'Indeed but actions speak louder than words' she told him, 'the steps to the altar perhaps?'

'If this is just a trick to get me to clean those damn steps I'm going to be really pissed' Ben told her coldly. He would have looked into her eyes for signs of deceit but in her armoured and blue skinned form her crystalline eyes were unreadable, well that plus creepy and unnerving.

'It would have been far easier to beat you until you did it than make _that_ story up' Illyria pointed out. 'I am not given to using trickery when brute force is available as a simpler and more effective option instead.'

Ben thought about it. 'Okay' he said eventually. '_That_ I can buy' he admitted.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_This Fanfic machine runs on reviews..._


	20. Chapter 20

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – September 2003**

Willow finally snapped. 'Spike' she practically growled stopping in her tracks and turning on him, 'following me around and bugging me is _not_ going to make you any less… insubstantial any quicker' she told him. 'And keep in mind that just because the rest of them can't do anything to you I'll bet _I_ can find a spell to do the job' she threatened. 'So in your own words, "bugger off".'

Spike frowned. 'Oh come on love I know you've got a lot on your plate what with the wicca stuff and your other half leaving but I'm going out of my bleeding mind here' he told her.

'Kennedy is not "leaving" she's going to Cleveland and I can still see whenever I want' Willow replied sharply. It wasn't really that simple though, she _could_ teleport there in a flash, literally, but they were both going to be so busy and most of what Willow needed to do was right here so they'd definitely be seeing less of each other. To be fair Willow fully understood why Kennedy was so happy about it, she was getting to run her own team on a Hellmouth largely independent of Buffy in terms of the day-to-day running of the operation. It was a fantastic opportunity for the slayer and she was buzzing with excitement but Willow had gotten used to sharing her life, and her bed, with someone again and it was strange to think that wasn't going to be the case anymore, for a while at least.

'Well couldn't you let Percy do more of the researching stuff to leave you more time for the witchiness?' Spike asked.

'Wesley is already up to his eyeballs in work with Giles away' Willow pointed out.

'What about Knibblet she's good with that stuff?' Spike tried again.

Willow fought down her temper. 'Dawn is already doing her best but we're a bit short of watchers at the moment in case you didn't notice, so she's helping Wesley with the urgent stuff that comes up and I'm sorry to say it Spike you're not that urgent' she told him. 'It's not like you're getting any older or anything' she pointed out.

'I should be out there helping Buffy' Spike said trying a different tack to see if that worked.

'We've got more slayers than we know what to do with Spike' Willow replied. 'If Buffy needs help she's got plenty.'

'Those little girls haven't got my experience' Spike responded. 'She needs someone to back her up who's seen more action, knows the underworld' he persisted.

'You mean like Angel?' Willow replied unable to resist a slight smirk at the vampires reaction.

'Look just make it so I can get something to eat and drink a sodding pint again' Spike begged. 'I must have spent half an hour yesterday with my head stuck through a fridge door looking at bottles of blood and Budweiser, I mean _Budweiser_ looked good for Christ's sake, I'm going off the deep end.'

Willow sighed. 'I promise I'll put some more time into the material we got from Lindsey the day after tomorrow alright?' she offered.

'I still think we should have kept him chained downstairs' Spike stated. 'That bloke was a serious wanker' he continued. 'Even dark and broody thought we should give him a hiding on basic principle and he's supposed to be all chivalrous these days.'

'He talked, we warned him off and we let him go' Willow replied. 'Buffy wants us to have a good reputation, play it straight with us and we'll give you the benefit of the doubt.'

'And when he double-crosses us?' Spike asked.

Willow looked away. '_If_ he double-crosses us I suppose we'll make an example of him' she replied. 'I don't really want to know what that'll be' she added. Buffy could be pretty ruthless these days and she was still a big wuss compared to what some of the others were capable of. 'Are we done because I need to talk to Fred about converting a spellcasting routine into a mathematical formula and she's way ahead of me with that stuff.'

'Go on love I'll go bug someone else for a while' Spike replied. 'You'll definitely look into that like you said?' he asked.

'Witches honour' Willow replied raising her right hand.

'Cheers' Spike replied. 'See ya later' he said then decided to go see what Xander was doing, he was probably fixing floorboards most likely. Winding him up enough to get a hammer thrown at, or rather through you was always a good way to spend an afternoon the vampire thought brightly.

Occasionally it occurred to Spike that when he _was_ solid again there would be a queue around the block to kick his ass but he'd always been more of a carpe diem sort of bloke and he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. Anyhow he planned to be so drunk that a few punches and kicks from the various slayers and others he'd irritated, abused, provoked and pushed to apoplexy over the last few months wouldn't be such a big deal. He doubted any of the ones that had mentioned staking him _really_ meant it.

**Sewers – Los Angeles – September 2003**

'When you said you wanted some father and son time I thought we might kick a ball around or something' Connor wryly observed.

'You know I was hoping you'd be into Ice Hockey by this age' Angel replied. 'Indoor games played at night, better for the not bursting into flames when I came to watch you play than football' he told his son as they continued to make their way along the network of tunnels.

'I guess this is the only sport we've got in common' Connor replied. 'The hunting I mean.'

Angel nodded. 'I don't think it's going to make the Olympics' he opined then paused. 'Sometimes my father, your grandfather, took me hunting back in Ireland' he told him. 'Deer are more of a challenge with a smoothbore musket you know.'

'You've not mentioned him much' Connor replied. 'What was he like?' he asked.

Angel stopped walking. 'At the time I thought he was just a jerk but the more time I spend with you I'm realising that I was.' he replied quietly. 'He just wanted what he thought was best for me, I don't know if I agree if he was right but now I'm getting to understand that he must have cared or he wouldn't have tried so damn hard.'

'So if I think you're a jerk you're saying I'll get over it?' Connor asked with a smile.

'At least I know I'll still be around to hear you admit I was right' Angel replied chuckling. 'But try not to wait so long to have kids as I did, you won't live that long.'

Connor grimaced. 'No offence Dad but I'm not thinking kids for a few… decades yet.'

'You just need to meet the right girl' Angel told him. 'Or the wrong one and forget that talk I gave you about birth control' he added with a grin.

'I'm never forgetting that talk' Connor replied laughing. 'I've never seen you that out of your depth before or since' he told him.

Angel laughed along. 'You should have experienced it from my side' he told him. 'Hopefully one day you will' he continued. Then he became more serious. 'So are you seeing anyone?' he asked. 'I mean I see you with lots of girls but is there anyone special?'

Connor felt the smile drop from his face, and he thought about it. 'If I asked for advice you wouldn't tell anyone about it would you?' he asked nervously.

Angel looked his son right in the eyes. 'Never' he vowed.

'If you laugh I'll kick your ass' Connor told him. 'I mean it.'

'I won't laugh Connor' Angel told him.

Connor rubbed his temples. 'I think I've fallen in love with Kennedy' he said quietly. 'Well I know I have I just don't know what to do about it.'

Angel blinked, his mouth opened to speak, he thought better about it and closed it again. Eventually he came up with a decent reply 'You're _what_?'

'You heard me' Connor replied, narrowing his eyes.

'Kennedy' Angel repeated. 'Willow's girlfriend?'

'Yes' Connor affirmed coldly. 'I just needed to tell someone, it's been preying on my mind.'

Angel shook his head. 'Let me get this straight. You've got a hotel full of girls and you fall for the _lesbian_?' he asked in amazement.

Connor sighed. 'It's not like it was deliberate' he told him sheepishly.

'I thought you were going to say Faith' Angel said honestly. 'Or that you still had a thing for Cordelia... I mean _Illyria_ would have been more realistic, although I'd have to try and kill Wes again because he'd have found a way to stick you back in Quartoth.'

'I'd have got back' Connor replied with a hint of a smile. 'Course I'd look older than you by then.'

'You haven't told her have you?' Angel asked.

Connor shook his head. 'I'm not crazy' he replied then looked thoughtful 'You know this is your fault.'

'It's _what_?' Angel replied.

'If you'd had a daughter I'd have been in with a shot' Connor deadpanned.

Angel smiled. 'I think Jasmine needed you to be a boy, a girl would have had a lot of trouble knocking up Cordelia' he replied.

'Gee thanks for reminding me about that Dad' Connor replied twitching slightly

'Just putting things in perspective, as personal issues go falling for a lesbian doesn't make it high up your list.'

Connor chuckled. 'It's a couple of places below having a father who's a bloodsucking fiend from the Seventeen-Hundreds' he replied.

Angel shrugged. 'Hey you want to try _being_ a bloodsucking fiend' he replied. One who gets cursed with a soul who then falls in love with a vampire slayer, now _that's_ a dysfunctional relationship.'

'Not forgetting the love triangle with the other bloodsucking fiend from the _Eighteen_-Hundreds' Connor noted then paused. 'Hey thanks Dad I feel better already' he said with an evil grin.

'Nice to know I could be there for you son' Angel replied. 'Now if you've got a stake I could borrow I'll fall on it over there thanks' he told him indicating a raised platform in the tunnel.

Connor laughed then put his serious face back on. 'Okay I talked now it's your turn' he told him. 'You're over Buffy right, I know there's tension but you're not going to get even broodier any time soon are you because that would be a real downer for the rest of us.'

'I'm not right for Buffy I know that' Angel said thinking about it. 'She needs normal in at least one part of her life or she'll lose herself' he replied honestly. 'I'm more right for her than _Spike_ though' he added with a great deal of emphasis. 'She can do better than that… heck _Drusilla_ could have done a lot better.'

Connor chuckled, he actually liked spike and found him funny but he'd be disowned for telling his father that. 'You know the girls say that Nina likes you' he said brightly. 'And according to Illyria she lusts after you' he added.

'What girls?' Angel asked quickly followed after a beat by '_Illyria_?'

'Yeah I overheard some of the girls saying that Nina was "warm for your form" and Illyria told them it was literally true, it's a seeing heat thing I guess, she also said you would be less morose if you were getting some and everybody pretty much agreed.'

'Who the hell is "everyone"? Angel demanded to know.

'I'm naming no names' Connor replied with a sly grin. 'For the record I think you should make a play for Nina too, she'd be good for you' he opined. 'I like her if that makes a difference at all' he added.

Angel sighed. 'It's not that simple Connor, you know that' he responded quietly.

'Hey if you lose your soul we'll just get Illyria or a couple of slayers to kick your ass and Willow can put it straight back in again' Connor replied with a wink. 'Just use protection okay, I don't need a brother or sister especially one I have to take for walkies instead of babysit for, and as for ending up with a stepmom who's a _real _bitch…'

'Okay that's enough Connor' Angel told him raising one finger.

'Damn because I had plenty of material' Connor replied sadly.

'Want me to start making lesbian jokes?' Angel threatened.

Connor shook his head. 'I'm done' he replied holding up his hands in mock surrender. 'Seriously though, Nina needs someone who can deal with the werewolf thing too and that's got to be difficult' he said. 'I mean how many guys can she find that'll be alright with "sorry I can't go out tonight sweetheart, I'm washing the hair… on my back".'

'Connor!' Angel said tersely.

'Sorry couldn't resist, I told you I had plenty of material' Connor replied holding back laughter.

Angel rolled his eyes. 'So what are you going to do about Kennedy?' he asked.

'You mean other than hope like hell she wakes up one morning and decide she likes guys?' Connor asked.

'Yes I mean _other_ than in fantasy land' Angel replied.

'Well I think it'll be easier with her in Cleveland, out of sight out of mind' Connor responded.

Angel started moving again Connor following alongside. 'Might not work as well as you hope' he told him honestly. 'I came to LA to try to forget Buffy but it didn't exactly work, not at first anyhow. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder but I think spending time apart really means you forget and downplay the problems that might be keeping you apart.'

'So I'll remind myself every morning I'm not a girl' Connor replied tongue-in-cheek. 'Thanks Dad.'

'Okay so I didn't say that as well as I hoped, I'm pretty new to this giving advice and sage council to the Son thing' Angel replied. 'Cut me some slack alright?'

'How about we just find whatever it is that's down here and draw a line under the whole issue?' Connor asked. 'I can smell something that's not right' he continued. 'Thinking of which if we want to talk about things not being right how come the two with the best sense of smell get the sewer searching job?' he asked.

'It's all those girls calling the shots' Angel replied. 'It's like a matriarchy' Angel replied. 'And be fair it's not like either of us told them to get lost when they were giving out assignments.'

'They asked so nicely, and they smell a lot better than this place' Connor noted. 'Damn manipulative slayers, damn hormones.'

Angel's expression changed. 'I'm smelling it and I'm hearing something now' he said. 'It's getting closer' he added drawing a sword from inside his coat Connor doing likewise.

Off down the tunnel a shape streaked past their line of sight along a cross tunnel, the father and son immediately started giving chase.

'Is it just me or did that thing have too many legs?' Connor asked, it looked like a insect centaur. 'Didn't Illyria say something about a bug demon in the sewers that looked like that, in the original timeline?'

Angel ran through his memories. 'I think she said that it was looking for Jasmine and if we ever met one not to get blood on the blue orb thing' Angel replied. 'Especially oxygen breather types like you.'

'Jasmine isn't here so why is _it_ here?' Connor asked as they ran after it. Damn thing was quick as well as ugly.

'Maybe it doesn't _know_ Jasmine isn't here' Angel replied reasonably. 'Maybe we should just ask it?'

'I've got a tazer' Connor noted. 'We could take it alive.'

'Thought you didn't like them?' Angel asked.

'I don't, they're just handy' Connor replied.

'I don't suppose you've got a can of bug spray too?' Angel inquired hopefully.

'I usually just swat them' Connor told his father. 'And before you ask I don't have a folding fly swatter that's three yards across either.'

Angel picked up the pace, they were gaining on it. 'We'll get our R&D department on it' he said.

'We've got a Research & Development department?' Connor asked matching his fathers pace easily.

'Haven't you seen the sign Fred put on her door yet?' Angel asked him. 'Hell she's even got staff, if you call Knox staff instead of an Illyria worshipping geek' he added. 'Don't make us come back with a tanker full of DDT bugboy' he yelled at the demon.

'So what department are we?' Connor asked.

'Search & Destroy' Angel answered wryly.

Connor thought about that. 'Do we get business cards?' he asked.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – September 2003**

The lobby doors flew open and Eve tore inside breathing hard. 'I need to talk to someone right now' she called out.

'And how can we be of assistance, or maybe hindrance, to you today?' Dawn asked from behind the reception desk.

'Someone _important_' Eve replied sarcastically. 'Is Angel here, Buffy?' she asked. 'Wyndham-Pryce?'

'Wesley there's a jerk here to see you' Dawn called out loudly, earning a scowl from Eve who was walking across the Lobby with several pairs of eyes trained on her.

Wesley walked out from the office and looked at Eve askance. 'What exactly are you doing here?' he asked. 'Isn't showing your face in our camp dangerous?' he asked. 'I'm sure Wolfram and Hart have our front door under constant surveillance, in fact I know they do because sometimes we beat up their observers.'

'Too late to worry about that' Eve replied. 'The Senior Partners ordered a random screening of the staff because they were worried there might be another Knox in the woodwork.'

'But there wasn't, there was an Eve instead right?' Wesley asked with a smirk. 'Mind Readers?'

Eve nodded. 'Not the usual pair they bring in' she replied. 'A trouble-shooter from out of town bought in some demons, powerful ones, I couldn't keep them out, they scanned me.'

'So you ran like hell' Wesley stated. 'Why didn't you go to your paramours?' he asked.

'I didn't want to risk leading them to Lindsey' Eve replied. 'I phoned him and told him to go to ground again' she explained. 'They're following me' she explained.

'And they've caught you' a loud voice declared from the lobby entrance.

Wesley looked across at the large and extremely well dressed man that had entered the building.

'I want to claim asylum' Eve pleaded looking to Wesley. 'You'll do stuff like that right?'

'What are we Switzerland?' Dawn asked rhetorically. 'Okay so we're basically well meaning, we've got a lot of secret bank accounts and we're heavily armed but do you see any cuckoo clocks around here?'

'Shush Dawn' Wesley told her. 'Eve we grant you asylum as long as you obey our rules and do not leave this building' he told her 'because I'm not wasting personnel to act as your private bodyguards' he added.

'This has nothing to do with you Watcher' the newcomer declared striding across the floor. 'You and these little girls have no authority over our people. Eve is leaving with me' he said confidently.

'One more step and I will have you eviscerated' Wesley stated coldly and gave the half dozen or so slayers dotted around the nod. Collapsible swords unfolded into place with a series of metallic chinks and in one case a small blond girl with pigtails pulled an automatic pistol from the back of her jeans and aimed it. 'Wolfram and Hart people come onto our property at sufferance, those that overstep the mark… suffer' he told him seriously.

'Eve is our employee…' the man began.

'And in fact your creation also as a Child of the Senior Partners' Wesley interrupted. 'As are you also I believe, since I assume from descriptions I've heard that you are Marcus Hamilton correct?'

'Yes he is' Illyria declared walking down the stairs.

'Excellent, we were hoping you'd turn up one day' Wesley told the man. 'In fact we've been planning for it.'

'You've been what?' Hamilton replied suspiciously addressing Wesley but turning to keep his eyes firmly fixed on Illyria.

'Planning for what to do with you' Wesley answered, 'of course we were worried we'd have to drag you here kicking and screaming but thanks for saving us the trouble' he told him. 'So if you'd like to donate a pint of blood voluntarily we'll get out the kit, siphon you in a jiffy and send you on your way. You see we've heard it can be quite the useful turbo-charger for our vampiric members and you never know when that might come in handy' he said.

Hamiltons jaw dropped.

'Illyria wanted to lock you up and milk your blood like a cow over a series of months, build up a stockpile, but a few of our senior staff are a little too squeamish for that' Wesley told him. 'So we'll just take the one pint for now like I said, call it a warning not to come into our house and mouth off, because quite frankly you talk a better game than you play.'

'Don't feel victimised' Dawn interjected. 'They drain me every few weeks' she told Hamilton. 'Of course with me it's voluntary' she admitted.

'What makes you think I'll _let_ you?' Hamilton asked.

'What makes you think you could possibly stop us?' Wesley asked flatly.

'Please feel free to try however' Illyria said. 'I really mean that, _please_ feel free to try' she asked smiling viciously. 'It would make my epoch' she told him honestly cracking her knuckles.

Eve turned to Dawn. 'So' she began, 'do we get room service here?' she asked brightly.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_This Fanfic is Turbo-Charged by reviews... :-p_


	21. Chapter 21

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – September 2003**

Buffy slumped down onto the lobby couch next to Faith who was already sprawled there drinking a can of coke. The two of them had just returned from a mission up the coast to deal with a particularly nasty band of warrior demons and they were tired, hungry and not happy to find the Hotel a hive of activity, let alone a hive in a slightly more literal sense. Finding out from Wesley that Eve was now a resident was bad enough. 'Let's cut to the chase' she said. 'Why exactly_ is_ there a gigantic cockroach lying on the ground with its legs tied together and a gag over its mouth in the basement?' she asked Connor who was standing in front of them with his arms behind his back. Wesley was listening in from the reception desk looking through the Wolfram and Hart files on the computer trying to learn more about their guest but so far he was drawing a blank.

'It's tied up because it kept trying to get away, and it's gagged because it kept repeating over and over again that the "devourer" was going to consume us, and after the first hour or so it started to get _really_ annoying' Connor replied. 'We had to drag it for miles until we found an exit big enough to squeeze it through and get Gunn to meet us in his pickup truck. We drove it the rest of the way with a tarp slung over it hoping the cops weren't going to pull us over' he explained. 'Don't worry we hosed it down before we bought it in' he added.

Buffy sighed. 'You're missing the point' she said. 'Are you planning to keep it as a pet or something?'

'No we just thought we'd better see what it knew' Connor told her. 'That's why Dad has Knox analysing its blood to see if Wesley's Truth Drug will work on it. Illyria took a look and it's definitely the thing that came looking for Jasmine before, in the alternate universe I mean.'

'Isn't Jasmine out of the picture?' Faith asked. 'Didn't Willow go Pro-Choice on the bitch?'

'My understanding is that Willow prevented Jasmine being born into human form but she herself was not destroyed, she's still out there somewhere' Wesley noted. 'From what Illyria has told me, the world this creature came from was ruled by Jasmine millennia ago and she still has worshippers although many have apparently given up the faith.'

'So the big bug likes the Old Time Religion' Faith said. 'Hey it's like Knox' she realised. 'Only I bet it's not such a dweeb.'

'Why is it here though?' Buffy asked.

'It could just be looking for her and she _was_ here in a manner of speaking so perhaps it's following a trail' Wesley replied.

'But we thought we'd better be sure hence the truth drug' Connor added. 'Willow tried a spell to make it talk but something interfered' he continued. 'Before we gagged it, the thing was talking about "Blood Magic" and how powerful it was compared to our "Word Magic" so we think it's got some skills in that area.'

'Where's Willow now?' Buffy asked.

'She's with Dawn, Fred and Illyria checking out the blue orb thing the creature had' Connor replied. 'It's a key between our world and theirs, opens a portal if you get blood on it.'

'If you want to hear something intriguing it glows when Dawn is nearby' Wesley told them. 'Fred has a modified Geiger-Counter that uses an Enchanted Cedrian Crystal to detect the Para-Plasmic Radioactivity resulting from inter-dimensional travel and apparently the Orb also puts out a lot of Rads when Dawn approaches it as well as visible light' he continued. 'Illyria thinks the mechanism it uses to unlock the portal between the two worlds must be similar to the key, our key I mean, as in your sister which is why it reacts so strongly to her' he said. 'That does of course open a very interesting avenue of portal research if they are so attuned.'

'Yeah?' Faith asked, she'd ignored all the stuff she didn't understand, it was easier to get through the day if she took that approach.

Buffy pursed her lips. 'If getting ordinary blood on the thing opens a portal to that world, what the hell would happen if we put _Dawns_ blood on it? she asked rhetorically. 'Blood from someone actually _made_ to open portals?'

Wesley nodded. 'Exactly' he affirmed, 'but it goes even further than that' he added. 'Someone once almost killed Fred by sending her a text-message of symbols that opened a portal to a hell dimension, which means that the navigation process can be made to work electronically, add in an artefact able to open portals without a spell in the form of the orb, an appropriate power source in the form of Dawn's blood and likely a lot of very expensive Research and Development to tie this all together, and we might be able to build a machine that can open portals to _anywhere_ we want no chanting, mystical ritual, or spellcasting required' he told them. 'It would be a brute force approach, but there's no reason to believe it wouldn't work, it's just bringing together several known technologies or elements rather than trying to invent something from scratch. The Orb is a key to a specific world, we'd just be turning into a skeleton key and using a bit of high tech to select what door we want opened.'

Connor looked at Wesley. 'You're talking about mixing up magic and technology' he said. 'Isn't that risky?' he asked. Connor was wary of magic and he was fairly new to industrial society for that matter as well.

Wesley shrugged. 'The inherent problem with magic is that it's an art more than a science' he responded. 'If anything this is probably _safer_ than our usual blundering around with the occult, it's certainly more predictable to use computer modelling and proper testing than rely on ancient texts. Math is math, the answer doesn't get lost in translation and it's less prone to assholes changing the scroll to get you to steal someone's child' he added randomly, and with more than a touch of melancholy.

'What does Blue think about this?' Faith asked. 'Wouldn't it make her redundant?' Faith asked.

'Opening portals is dangerous to Illyria if she does it too often, it destabilises her shell so if anything this _increases_ her usefulness' he replied. 'She can afford to use her other esoteric powers more often because we won't need to rely on her if we need to go dimension jumping' he continued. 'It wouldn't have her finesse though, Illyria "feels" her way through portals, the machine will just punch holes between realms' he noted. 'To draw an analogy if she picks the lock, _it_ would be more akin to throwing a brick through the window' he explained. 'We'd never be able to get it to work if we didn't have the mystical equivalent of a nuclear power-station driving it. A subtle, elegant solution it certainly is not' he admitted.

'Screw subtle, brute force is more reliable anyway' Faith opined finishing off her coke and crushing the empty can into a tiny mangled mess in her fist. 'So what are we going to do with Eve?'

'She seemed to think she could hang around here and freeload' Wesley replied. 'I've found her a suitable role instead, made her earn her keep' he said with a distinct smirk.

Buffy looked at him suspiciously. 'What did you do?'

'I gave Andrew a personal assistant and part time serving wench' Wesley replied with an evil grin.

'Jeez Wes' Faith responded in shock. 'I'd have just made her scrub the floors, or clean the toilets but that's just sadistic.'

Buffy's shook her head. 'I used to wonder what Lilah and Illyria saw in you' she told Wesley, 'but now its all clear' she continued. 'You're the Prince of Darkness' she stated seriously.

'I do enjoy my work more than I used to' Wesley admitted, 'there's something terribly satisfying about putting your more despicable brainwaves into action.'

Buffy took a deep breath. 'We're the good guys, we're the _good_ guys' she started to chant to herself for reassurance.

**Wolfram and Hart Building – Los Angeles – September 2003**

Marcus Hamilton straightened his tie, he'd been able to change into a fresh suit and get washed up but he still looked a mess as he walked into Lilah's Office.

'What happened to you?' Lilah asked from behind her desk. His face was bruised and there was a large band-aid on his forehead.

Hamilton's left eye twitched. 'I made Illyria's epoch' he replied both cryptically and in a tone that spoke of much restrained anger before he sat down without asking. 'The opposition have granted Eve asylum' he announced. 'I got the impression that if we tried to retrieve her by force they would resist… forcefully.'

'I see the impression they left in your face' Lilah replied wryly, 'is that a bootprint?' she asked deadpan.

Hamilton growled under his breath. 'A large number of Slayers pinned me to the ground and the Old One kicked the crap out of me' he explained. 'For some reason it enjoyed it a great deal, revelled in every blow' he continued. 'They were trying to force me to donate blood and when I resisted…'

'They forced the issue' Lilah interrupted. 'I assume they _did_ take blood from you?'

'Yes' Hamilton admitted, 'a full pint. They told me it could be used to increase the strength of their vampire allies.'

Lilah dropped her head into her hands. 'So not only did you not bring back Eve, she'll now be even more motivated to stay with them and answer their questions because she knows she needs their protection from you, and to cap it all you've given them another weapon they can roll out against us when things turn nasty?' she declared. 'Did I, or did I not advise you to keep clear of the Hyperion?' she asked.

Hamilton muttered something under his breath.

'I'll take that as a yes' Lilah told him. 'I hope that the Senior Partners also remember that I never wanted her here and that it was_ they_ that assigned her to the LA Office.'

'There was no way of knowing she was involved with Lindsey McDonald' Hamilton stated.

'And no way of tracking him apparently as the telepaths who scanned Eve's mind have informed me' Lilah responded. 'And yes we _have_ tried anyway and our best Seers and Psychics are drawing a total blank' she added. 'So how do you rate the slayers having had first hand, or perhaps fist, experience?'

'They are stronger than average demons as would be expected, though weaker than myself as individuals, however given that the days of the lone slayer are now history, and that we know from observing them in the field they operate as teams, my view is that they are as large a threat as your reports indicated' Hamilton answered.

'We don't even know how many there are' Lilah noted. 'We have a definite count for slayers seen at the Hyperion of seventy-five plus but more are arriving all the time as they emerge from hiding and word reaches them they should head to LA' she told him. 'Our Rome Office informs us that the remnants of the Watchers Council has re-established itself and is rounding up large numbers of slayers throughout Europe who are also presumably going to be sent here for training before being unleashed on the underworld like a plague of interfering teenage locusts.'

'So we are definitely looking at hundreds of slayers' Hamilton noted.

'And it's not just the numbers it's the _attitude_' Lilah told him. 'We know from our contacts in the arms trade that they have been stockpiling weaponry, including the sort of armament you would normally expect to see on a major battlefield' she said. 'We have confirmed reports of slayers using military hardware in the field, and doing so proficiently, so it seems the days when we just had to worry about them toting pointy sticks are long gone' she continued. 'I've had one memo across my desk that says they've got a pair of Mortars and a crate of shoulder-launched Surface-to-Air Missiles squirreled away somewhere. Not only are they faster and stronger do you realise that they actually have our Black Ops teams totally _outgunned_?' she asked incredulously.

'The world turned upside down' Hamilton responded. 'It's chaos.'

'No it's not' Lilah disagreed. 'It's a new order of things' she told him. 'They've were complete wimps for so long we went soft too and now the revolution's come _we're_ the wimps' she stated. 'We've got demon clans, major clients, thinking about heading to a safer dimension because we can't protect them. We always operated behind the scenes, influence over brute force, but now we're facing a war and we don't have an army to fight it with.'

Hamilton crossed his arms and winced, he was sure he had a few cracked ribs in there. 'We do have access to an army through the Circle' he pointed out.

Lilah nodded. 'Archduke Sebassis has Forty Legions at his command, tens of thousands of warrior demons, albeit in other worlds, but unfortunately he is already loathe to commit his forces for fear of losing a great number of them' she told Hamilton, 'in fact he even reduced the number of troops he already _did_ have here' she continued. 'He was warned off' she told him. 'In a manner that was so puerile I never gave the full details to the Senior Partners.'

Hamilton looked confused. 'Puerile?'

Lilah sighed. 'This is a copy of an audio recording that was sent to him' she said and reaching into her desk she pulled out a tiny tape-recorder pressing rewind then play.

A tune began, which Hamilton recognised as being "This Land is Our Land". After a few seconds singing started.

"_This world is our world_

_it is not your world_

_We've got the H-Bomb_

_and you've not got one _

_If you invade us_

_we'll nuke your ass off_

_This world is human prop-er-ty_"

Lilah couldn't help but laugh. 'The Pylean Demon Lorne put together a choir from some of the girls I hope this wasn't their best effort' she said. 'I imagine it was intended to be insulting to the Archdukes dignity, mocking his status as someone he thinks they should take seriously' she theorised.

'H-Bomb?' Hamilton repeated.

Lilah shrugged. 'Buffy previously threatened me with the possibility of letting Illyria steal and deploy Thermonuclear weapons if we pushed her too hard' she told him. 'They could easily do so and have her portal them to worlds under Sebassis control and it's not like they'd suffer many moral qualms about it. Basically they're saying that the situation is that if a large number of demons ever portal into this realm, the weather forecast wherever they came from is going to be "Ten Million Degrees, very cloudy" and that looks lousy on any kind of cost/benefit analysis. Remember that they _did_ steal and portal fuel-air-explosive bombs against the First Evil, the difference here is only scale.'

'Even so that's _got_ to be a bluff' Hamilton stated. 'This time last year they were using crossbows and _now_ they're threatening nuclear holocaust.'

'Sebassis may have thought so too if the recording hadn't arrived on a tape that was stuffed in the mouth of the decapitated head of one of his followers' Lilah replied evenly. 'The demon in question was involved in the abduction of human females into slavery offworld, one of the Archdukes more profitable enterprises as it happens. It seems the slayers took exception to that trade and decided on a package deal caution on two separate issues. It wasn't a _completely_ puerile warning' she noted.

'I'm surprised that one of the Black Thorne didn't retaliate for the loss, it is not their reputation to take such an affront' Hamilton remarked.

'After what they did to Vale the Circle prefers to give the slayers and their allies a wide berth' Lilah replied. 'As an aside to that I'm told that Senator Bruckner is getting out of politics after her vampire staff went missing and was returned to her one at a time… as powder in little packages through the mail.'

'Makes a change from politicians getting sent anthrax' Hamilton remarked. 'So where do we go from here?'

'Plans are underway, the wheels are turning' Lilah told him, 'but you'll forgive me for not telling _you_ about them, the only reason they're still secret is because I didn't let the last Child of the Senior Partners in on them either. Between that, and your own failures today when you've only just arrived, I think I'll be recommending that we only use real humans from now on' she said. 'I'm not impressed by you imitations.'

Hamilton glared at her.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – September 2003**

'We had to add a little something to the mix but as you can see, well hear' Knox corrected himself, 'the drug has worked very well' he told them as they looked down at the still restrained but docile and suggestible insect demon.

'What did you add?' Wesley asked out of interest.

'Just some chlorine compounds' Knox replied. 'The atmosphere back on its home world seems to have a lot of chlorine in it, enough to burn out your lungs if you went there, but it meant that the locals biochemistry is a bit different than ours in a few areas' he noted. 'I encountered a couple of demons from other worlds with chlorine atmospheres before in my Wolfram and Hart days, so I had an idea where to start.'

'Learned anything?' Buffy asked Angel who was squatting beside the demon asking it questions, the insect-like creature sounded almost drunk but although some of its replies were random and almost nonsensical at times it was spilling its guts.

Angel shook his head. 'Nothing special' he answered. 'It's here looking for Jasmine like we thought and it won't accept she's not here.'

'The Devourer will come' the creature mumbled, 'you cannot defeat only delay. Prophecy says will come here, rule.'

'She's not here and she ain't coming' Faith told the demon insect. 'Even if she does come somehow we'll stick a scythe up her ass.'

The demon seemed to laugh. 'If comes you will all love.'

Illyria forced herself to ignore the fact she was in the basement and stopped staring at the walls. 'Even if her power was great enough to override my will the shell I wear was exposed to her blood' she stated. 'she would have no influence on my mind for that reason alone and I would only need to make her bleed a little to restore the others.'

'Can you take Jazzy?' Faith asked.

'Although very strong, Jasmine could be made to bleed far more easily than I' Illyria replied. 'If I could not overwhelm her I would injure her and use her blood to restore your free-will. One of the scythes should be able to deal with her.'

'_Still_ getting used to the plural scythes thing' Buffy remarked.

Illyria cocked her head. 'You're not the one they make uneasy when you're near them' she replied. 'The prospect of there eventually being _hundreds_ of them is unsettling in the extreme.'

'Wasn't that _your_ idea though Blue?' Faith asked in amusement.

'The sacrifice of my peace of mind is worth the end result of a drastically improved slayer arsenal, but that does not mean I have to do the dance of joy about it' Illyria responded curtly.

'It's a Pylean thing' Angel explained to Buffy and Faith who looked confused by the reference. 'Fred would have known it so she does' he continued. '_Don't _ask Lorne to show it to you' he counselled.

'While the subjects raised, try holding both scythes at once' Faith suggested to Buffy.

'Why? What does it feel like?' Buffy asked intrigued.

Faith shrugged. 'I've got no idea, I just wanted to know if you'd OD doing that shit before I tried it myself' she replied, earning a glare for her trouble.

'Devourer will come, I will call to her with blood magic' the demon mumbled. 'Call her to her people.'

'It's always about the blood' Buffy said. 'Dawn's blood to open portals, Hamilton's blood to make vampires stronger, blood magic, blood on Orbs... it's been a "bloody" kinda day.'

'Blood is life' Angel replied simply.

'Spike said that once' Buffy told him.

'Even a broken clock is right twice a day' Angel replied wryly.

'What we going to do with this guy?' Faith asked.

'Oh hell can we just send the poor bastard home?' Buffy asked. 'Let's not finish the day with _more_ blood.'

Illyria frowned. 'If we give it the orb it will return with him and it is valuable.'

'Well could _you_ open a portal there?' Buffy asked.

'For the benefit of _that_?' Illyria asked pointing at the creature. 'I am not as soft-hearted as you.'

Buffy sighed. 'Illyria as a personal favour to me would you _please_ take the big cockroach home?' she asked.

'I despair of your species' Illyria told her. 'You have so much greatness in you, atomic weaponry, napalm, nerve gas' she listed, 'but you also have this ludicrous empathy even for things that could not care less if you lived or died' she said. 'This being would likely think of you as nothing more than a source of blood for its magicks or likely even its next meal.'

'So are you going to do it or not?' Buffy asked expectantly.

Illyria narrowed her eyes. 'When Giles gets back I want Wesley to have a weeks leave' she said. 'He has been overworked and needs a vacation.'

Buffy looked surprised but nodded her agreement. 'Deal' she said.

Illyria turned to Wesley who looked pretty surprised himself. 'I thought we could go backpacking in Yosemite National Park' she said. 'If you would like that?' she asked hopefully.

Wesley smiled. 'Sounds good' he told her.

'I guess it's your lucky day' Faith told the insect-demon, 'but turn up in these parts again and we'll find a really big lizard to feed you to.'

'You know there's a lot of bears in Yosemite' Buffy told Illyria. 'You could run into them if you go backpacking' she said.

'So?' the God-King queried.

Faith looked from Buffy to Illyria. 'I think she's asking you not to beat up on the bears' she told her.

'Yeah that's pretty much where I was going with that' Buffy agreed.

'If they do not mess with me I will not mess with them' Illyria replied reasonably.

* * *

**_Note From the Author:_**

_The technobabble about using an "Enchanted Cedrian Crystal" in a modified Geiger Counter to detect "Para-Plasmic Radioactivity" is Angel canon even if it **does **sound more like I took it from Star Trek :-p_


	22. Chapter 22

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – September 2003**

'You know when you said you were bringing something back with you I was hoping for a little Teddy Bear wearing one of those Police Helmets they have back in the mother country' Buffy told Giles and the rest of his entourage leading them into the Lobby.

Faith looked up from the magazine she was reading at the reception desk. She didn't usually end up manning the phones but Anya had asked her to watch it for a few minutes while she went to have a word with Xander upstairs and Faith was trying to restore friendly relations with the woman after a minor disagreement about paperwork the previous week escalated into a slanging match involving several references to which one had had Xander first. Buffy had gone to collect Giles and the rest from the Airport but to Faith's surprise there was an unexpected addition to the party. 'New watcher?' Faith asked, 'and I'm using the loosest possible definition of the word new here' she added. The man was definitely a watcher, the clothes and bearing were almost a uniform and he was really getting on in years.

Giles glared at her, she may have turned over a new leaf but the girl was never going to show any decorum. 'Faith this is Mr Thomas Stirling' he introduced the newcomer. 'Thomas, this Faith Lehane our second most senior Slayer.'

'Apparently Tommy here was a field Watcher before he retired back in the Eighties' Buffy interjected.

'What the _Eighteen_-Eighties?' Faith asked sardonically looking the man over. He looked old enough to be Giles father, or maybe even his grandfather.

'I see everything in the files about you was accurate Ms. Lehane' the Watcher replied. 'As was the note that you Ms. Summers had an overly familiar manner' he continued. 'You may both address me as either Mr Stirling, Sir or even Stirling at a pinch, kindly do _not_ call me by my given name and certainly not as "Tommy" or any other abbreviation' he told them.

'Oh yeah the girls are going to love him' Faith remarked rolling her eyes. 'Hey D'Artagnon, hey girls' she greeted the others with considerably more warmth. At least the latest generation of watchers was reasonable she thought.

Stephen had long given up trying to stop them calling him that stupid nickname and merely nodded back in recognition of the greeting. 'I'm going to haul the bags upstairs' he told Giles. 'Leave yours by the stairs and I'll come back and collect them' he told him.

'I can get a couple of slayers to do that' Buffy interrupted.

'Just because they're stronger than I am doesn't make me any less of a male chauvinist pig' Stephen replied wryly. 'The idea of watching young girls carrying luggage when I could do it offends' he told the slayer semi-seriously before heading towards the staircase.

'When are you going to get used to the idea that the age of chivalry is dead?' Emily asked in amusement following him.

'When they prise my longsword from my cold dead fingers' Stephen replied flatly. 'And I've never heard any complaints when I pick up the bill at restaurants.'

'That's different' Emily retorted. 'They _pay_ you, I just get pocket money' she pointed out.

The twins looked at each other. 'What about the money they give you for manning the desk?' Deborah asked trying not to laugh.

Stephen stopped dead in his tracks half way up the stairs. 'Well _that's_ news' he remarked before continuing on again.

'She is so going to get you back for that' Jessica whispered to her sister.

'It was worth it' Deborah responded as they followed the other two up to their rooms.

Giles put his luggage by the stairs. 'Is Wesley around?' he asked.

'Up on the roof with Blue as usual' Faith replied. 'He knows you were on your way back I guess he'll be down in a minute.'

'His father said he could be tardy' Stirling noted. 'Not to mention lackadaisical'

Faith narrowed her eyes, nobody got to insult Wes but her and a select few others and that was usually just in good humour, she assumed it _was_ an insult from the way the old man said it.

'I don't know about tardy, he's more of a "just in the nick of time" kinda guy these days' Buffy said taking note of Faiths expression and deciding to calm things down. It was sweet really, Faith was reacting in much the same way she would if some stranger badmouthed Giles except perhaps that Faith had perhaps a more protective attitude in some way that Buffy thought was probably linked to guilt. No matter what she did Faith would _always_ look at Wesley and remember tying him to a chair and torturing him. The worst Buffy had ever done to Giles was make him apoplectic with rage which wasn't really comparable. Nearly killing him when he was turned into a Fyarl demon was too accidental to qualify.

'I'm told that Robin Wood is acting in a temporary capacity as the watcher on the Cleveland Hellmouth' Stirling asked Buffy. 'I suppose that was the only option in the circumstances given the lack of trained watchers.'

Buffy nodded. 'Yes although I wouldn't consider him totally untrained' she replied. 'Not only has he plenty of field experience he was raised by a watcher after his mothers death and absorbed plenty of the book learning side of the business.'

Stirling looked thoughtful. 'Ah yes young Nikki Wood' he recalled. 'I met her once when I was in New York tracking down a rather nasty vampire clan that we had chased out of Holland, from Amsterdam to New Amsterdam as it were' he gently joked.

'_You_ were tracking vampires?' Faith asked doubtfully.

'My dear young lady thirty years ago I was in rather better shape than I am now' he told her. 'Watchers don't just watch you know, we hunt when required too.'

'Did you catch them?' Buffy asked.

'Finally caught up with the buggers in Boston' Stirling replied. 'Introduced them to the old crossbow, went home' he told her. 'It was one of my last missions actually they put me behind a desk shortly after that, couldn't really go hand to hand with the opposition any more, took too long for the bruises to heal and my reaction times were becoming a tad too sluggish.

Buffy frowned. 'I know this is rude but how old are you?' she asked.

Stirling chuckled. 'I'll be eighty years old next year my dear' he replied. 'I'm afraid to say that everyone younger was either a research man and as much use to you as a chocolate teapot or else Roger Wyndham-Pryce already had them out looking for and collecting the multitude of slayers young Ms. Rosenburg activated and instantly changed the priorities of the remaining Council members and associates' he continued. 'Still beggars can't be choosers as they say, you have a surplus of slayers and a surfeit of watchers' he noted. 'Come to think of it we should really negotiate a hefty payrise given the whole supply and demand concept.'

Buffy looked at the man in surprise. 'Well you're not bad for seventy-nine' she told him, at least he was still mobile, 'but if you want a raise you're way down the list to get one.'

'Not bad for my age is perhaps not _that_ much of a ringing endorsement' he observed, 'but at least I haven't had to start using a cane, or God forbid a wheelchair yet' he noted. 'Although I _do_ have a swordstick in my luggage, I've found it causes less friction with the constabulary than walking along carrying a broadsword.'

'So you've been a Watcher all your life?' Faith asked, 'before you retired I mean? Followed in the family business like Wes or Stevey boy?'

'No as a matter of fact I'm not from one of the dynastic watcher families, I was actually recruited by the Council after leaving my previous job, they wanted someone with special skills' Stirling replied. 'I assure you that whilst I might not be much use in a brawl these days my marbles are still completely intact' he told them.

'Previous job?' Buffy asked him curiously.

'Well back around the time I was due to leave school this rather unpleasant Austrian chap decided to march all over Europe and it seemed the thing to do to try and stop him' he replied smiling. 'If you're really interested in my life story next year is a rather special anniversary for me' he said. 'It's not just my eightieth birthday it's also sixty years since a very large Sergeant Major encouraged me via a firm push to jump out of a perfectly good aircraft several thousand feet over Normandy.'

Buffy's eyes widened. 'You were a paratrooper at D-Day?' she realised in surprise. It was hard to imagine the somewhat staid old man in front of her as once being about her age and jumping out of a plane with a gun over occupied France.

The old watcher chuckled at her reaction, to her eyes he must look ancient. 'To be honest I only joined because I thought the Red Beret would get the girls but they were all falling over themselves for bally Yanks' he told her with mock bitterness. 'After the war I was approached by the Council through a friend of my fathers and asked if I would like to fight a rather different kind of evil and, probably because of one too many landings on my head, I foolishly agreed' he said. 'Quite a lot of Watchers had either volunteered or had been conscripted into the Army during the war, and naturally a fair number had fallen in the fray, so they were driven to recruit from outside the organisation to make up numbers' he explained. 'The Old Guard in the Council rather looked down upon us as outsiders you know. If you weren't at least a third generation watcher you were just a foreigner.'

Giles smiled. 'There was another reason I thought Mr Stirling might be a useful addition to the group' he said. 'Frankly there never were too many of the Council that knew anything about firearms and small unit tactics, we were always geared towards melee weapons and a single-combat situation' he said. 'Mr Stirling however went through some rather intensive on-the-job training in his previous life and my conversations with him back in London convinced me he would be an asset.'

'If there was ever a mark of desperation' Stirling interjected. 'It is when the Council has to bring a seventy-nine year old Lieutenant out of retirement' he said. 'On the other hand it's nice to be needed again' he told them brightly. 'I was going insane, there's only so many games of bowls a man can take' he said with a shudder.

Faith raised a hand. 'For the record' she began, 'there is no way in _hell_ I'm _ever_ going to be jumping out of any planes' she declared, 'just in case the subject comes up.'

Buffy shrugged. 'We've got plenty of girls, some of them have got to be crazy enough to do it' she replied thoughtfully.

When Amanda walked into the Lobby a minute later she was very concerned by the way Buffy and Faith were looking at her and she quickly headed back to the kitchen.

**Ohio City – Cleveland – September 2003**

'Aren't we supposed to have like… secret identities?' Jackie whispered as they walked in looking around nervously.

Kennedy gently groaned. 'Three teenage girls walk into a demon bar on a Hellmouth' she replied quietly, 'do you_ really_ think the patrons aren't going to guess who we are right off?' she asked trying to keep the sarcasm in her voice to a minimum. 'Anyhow we're here _because_ we want to be seen' she told the rookie. Shannon was okay Kennedy thought, she had plenty of field time and getting stabbed in the gut by an evil priest her first day in Sunnydale had wiped all the naivety right out of her right off the bat but Jackie, the relative newbie member of the trio was still green as grass by comparison. Buffy wanted to rotate less experienced girls through Cleveland to show them what it was like to work on a hellmouth and Jackie was the first. 'Hey all' Kennedy announced loudly 'We're the new Slayers in town and if you're lucky and behave yourselves we _won't_ be the last thing you ever see in your life' she declared.

'Well as last views go it's not so bad' a vampire noted with a confident smile from his stool at the bar. He looked to be in his twenties, though he could easily be centuries old of course, and he had the looks to charm the ladies Kennedy decided, well charm and then sink in the teeth afterwards.

Shannon chuckled. 'I like him let's stake him last' she suggested.

'I prefer them female… and alive' Kennedy replied with a shrug 'but if you want to follow in the Chiefs footsteps go right ahead, maybe you can get him to buy you a beer.'

'Nah' Shannon replied. 'I'm with you on the pulse thing at least' she continued following Kennedy towards the bar where she grabbed the vampire who'd spoken up and pulled off his stool dumping him onto the floor and taking his seat. The vampire hissed and for a second looked like it was going to try its luck but it soon thought better of it and picked itself up, dusted itself off and wandered off towards the far corner. Kennedy took the stool next to Shannon leaving the newbie to stand by the door trying to look intimidating, they were really going to have to get her to get rid of those pigtails though Kennedy decided, or get her to carry a big mace studded with spikes.

'Two cokes' Kennedy told the barman. Jackie had taken in enough caffeine and sugar tonight already judging by how buzzy she'd been on the way here.

'Diet for me if you got' Shannon added quickly. 'I'm trying to cut down on my calorie intake' she told Kennedy, 'too many doughnuts in all-night diners and snacks on patrol' she explained.

The barman studiously avoided eye-contact, he was a Bracken Demon which meant he was probably harmless, but amongst the demon community Slayers had a rep only slightly better than the Scourge and that was back when there was only one around at a time. There was supposed to be dozens, maybe hundreds of them now, the bartender had heard, and they were ranging further and further out from LA, driving the Demon population of the United States eastwards in a strange reversal of the great 19th Century American migration west. The vampires were especially edgy, they were always the first to suffer when a slayer rolled into town let alone a pack of them. On the other hand edgy vampires drank more and profits were up on blood with whiskey chasers.

'So has anybody here killed a human recently?' Kennedy asked cheerfully, looking around the clientele for a reaction. A few of the meaner looking demons had the guts to stare right back which meant they were either as tough as they looked, as dumb, or maybe both. 'You can tell me I won't judge' she told them.

'We're more like the executioners' Shannon added taking a swig from the Diet Coke that had just been placed in front of her. 'And we _won't_ give you a jury of your peers' she added. Kennedy and herself had worked out the routine in the car, they couldn't really see how Buffy and Faith always seemed to come up with the patter straight from the tops of their heads, maybe it came with experience? They were both starting to get on in years, at least by slayer standards since the majority never made it out of their teens.

'What makes you think you'd get out of here alive if you tried something Slayer?' a Chaos Demon asked coldly from a table nearby. The slime from its antlers was dripping slowly down its shoulders making it an even less attractive sight than it would have been otherwise.

'The fact we're stronger than any of you, faster than most of you and we're heavily armed' Kennedy replied earnestly, pulling one side of her jacket across to show she was wearing a shoulder holster with a large handgun in it. 'Plus of course the fact that at least a few of you are smart enough to realise that if you somehow _did _kill us that thirty slayers would arrive in town on the next flight into Cleveland Hopkins Airport and they'd tear this town apart looking for anyone involved' she pointed out. One message had been forcefully impressed on the underworld in the last few months, the slayers now worked on a somewhat exaggerated version of the Chicago rules, put one of them in the hospital and they'd put fifty of you in the morgue. 'You know it's pretty simple, don't kill the humans and we won't kill you' she told everyone. 'We're harsh but we're fair' she told them honestly. 'We're not genocidal, we've even got demons on the payroll, just don't step out of line and you won't get stepped on' she warned.

This was very much Standard Operational Procedure or SOP as they had started to call it, adopting military slang and abbreviations as they had gradually adopted a more militaristic team-based approach abandoning the lone-wolf warrior ethos of the pre-activation days. Both Buffy in Sunnydale and Faith in LA had taken Kennedy along on a visit like this and it seemed the thing to do for her to do likewise as the head slayer in a new town. Robin Wood had scouted around Cleveland identifying the favoured Demon haunts as well as arranging a base of operations and so far it seemed he was spot on, they'd only been in town a couple of days and they'd already wiped out a vamp nest and were rousting their second demon bar.

Kennedy looked over at Jackie. The girl had been in an establishment like this before in LA but she had only arrived at the Hotel just over six weeks back by which time the Los Angeles demons were already nice and docile. These guys were demons in the wild and although most of them were trying to look inoffensive there were plenty who would just love to get themselves a nice tasty bite of slayer and it showed.

'You know we could have just turned up and threw a bomb through the door' Shannon noted, 'be grateful you're getting the personal touch and not the anti-personnel grenade' she advised. 'And yes we _do_ carry those' she added taking a small metal sphere out of her jacket pocket and holding it up. It was actually a stun grenade rather than fragmentation or incendiary but they wouldn't know that and they did have the other types of grenades in the car along with the usual crossbows, shotguns, swords and battleaxes. They'd even thrown some night vision gear in the trunk because after this Kennedy wanted to do a late night tour of the cemeteries, the girl was definitely out to impress the chief back in LA Shannon decided.

Kennedy dropped a note on the bar. 'That's it, just a social call' she told everyone. 'Tell your friends, and if you _do _still decide to be naughty boys remember that we _will_ track you down and stick pointy objects up your ass.'

'I think some of them might find that thought kinda appealing' Shannon remarked.

Kennedy frowned. 'Okay if you look like you're _enjoying_ the pointy objects up the ass we'll switch to the blunt objects to the back of the head' she told them.

'So are we going to kill one of these guys as an example?' Jackie asked from where she was standing. 'Because I don't like the way that one over there is looking at me' she added pointing at a nearby vampire which immediately looked away and placed its full attention on a plate of buffalo wings.

Kennedy thought about it. 'Nah I'm feeling magnanimous, we'll slay him another time' she replied eventually.

Shannon looked around and smirked. 'You know there's going to be another six of us in town in a few weeks' she said. 'Better straighten up and fly right' she advised.

The two slayers at the bar got up. 'Cleveland' Kennedy said happily. 'A Hellmouth under your feet, right on the lake and plenty of vamps and demons to beat up on' she said. 'They're right, this really _is_ the best location in the nation' she declared heading for the door.

* * *

_**Note From the Author:**_

_If anyone wants to discuss the story, offer ideas or criticisms then please do so on the forum I set up for the Compelled Series._


	23. Chapter 23

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – October 2003**

Deborah, always the more forthright of the twins, fixed Giles with a withering stare. 'You have _got_ to be joking' she stated coldly crossing her arms.

Buffy tried not to laugh when Giles immediately took off his glasses and started polishing them. 'I've already talked to the school, explained the circumstances, or rather a polished version of the circumstances, and they are willing for the two of you to start next Monday, it's only been a few weeks since the start of term and I'm sure you won't have trouble fitting in' he said with a tone that held rather more conviction that he did himself.

'But it's an ordinary school' Jessica protested. 'We can't go to an _ordinary_ school' she told him.

'They teach all the same subjects as you took at the academy' Giles told her. 'Well perhaps not the more arcane ones' he admitted. It was unlikely demonic recognition and methods of termination were on the curriculum, 'but I'm sure I can find time to teach you that in the evenings' he told them. 'I'm simply neither qualified, nor do I have the time to school you in totality by myself.'

'It's a good school' Buffy reassured them. 'We checked it out, great academic reputation' she told the pair. It was also very expensive but they had plenty of money in the bank and besides which they were responsible for the girls and Buffy doubted anyone would object to funding their education from Council funds. Emily the eldest of the three girls was sat next to Giles facing the twins across the table, she wasn't saying much but she was trying to look supportive of Giles presenting a united front to the other two. Buffy was there to back up her watcher too, he was still out of his depth regarding his new responsibilities and he had asked her to be on hand in case he made a complete mess of things.

Deborah turned to Buffy and directed her glare at the Slayer instead. 'What's it got to do with you anyway?' she challenged dismissively before turning back to Giles. 'You said you were going to look after us' she reminded him.

'I'm sending you to school for a few hours a day, I'm not banishing you to outer darkness or boarding school' Giles replied evenly. 'I'm taking legal guardianship of you which is what you wanted I never said I'd home-school you as well.'

'We were at boarding school before' Jessica pointed out. 'It's the fact it's an _ordinary_ school that we don't like' she said. 'People out there live in a fantasy world where there's no magic or demons and the world isn't going to end next Tuesday' she said pointing out of the window. 'How are we supposed to deal with ignorance like that?' she asked rhetorically. 'What are we supposed to tell them? We live with a load of super-powered teenage girls in a hotel owned by a vampire, our parents were blown to pieces by the source of all evil and our old school was burned down after the entire staff and student body was massacred by demonically warped Harbingers?'

'Probably for the best if you _don't_ tell anyone that' Giles replied deadpan. 'We'd have to put you in a private mental institution instead of a private school.'

'There's many a true word said in jest' Deborah retorted causing Buffy to laugh. The way they talked sometimes seemed so out of place for their age, they really were watchers-in-waiting. Buffy wondered if the uniform at the academy had been tweed. 'We'll have to spend half our time at school lying to people. Do you really think that's acceptable?' Deborah asked sardonically.

'Well it's certainly _necessary _at any rate' Giles replied. 'Emily will be attending the same institution and she doesn't seem to have a problem with it' he told them.

'I went for an interview with the Headmaster, sorry I mean Principal, yesterday' she told them. 'It seemed like a nice enough place.'

'You went for an interview?' Deborah repeated angrily. 'Why does _she_ get preferential treatment?' she asked indignantly.

'She's older' Giles replied, 'and she wouldn't deliberately throw the interview' he continued knowingly. 'Look if you're not happy there' be began in a reasonable tone, 'you can suck it up, behave like a bloody watcher and put your personal feelings aside' he told the twins forcefully causing Jessica's jaw to drop and Deborah's eyes to widen, he'd never spoken like that to them before. 'You _will_ be attending the school I send you to, you _will_ get good grades and you _will_ obey me' he declared.

Buffy looked at Giles, he'd channelled a bit of his edgy "Ripper" persona there and it had caught the twins unawares. Most of the time they just wrapped him around their little fingers but this clearly wasn't going to be one of those times.

'I bet Stephen doesn't have to go back to school' Deborah said bitterly.

'He's legally an adult so you're right he doesn't' Giles replied. 'And he wouldn't want to go to this one anyway' he told them. 'It's all-girl and the uniform would look very funny on him, especially the skirt.'

'He's got nice legs' Emily observed then blushed when Buffy looked at her in amusement. 'Well he does' she added.

'And like you're an unbiased judge' Buffy replied with a chuckle.

Giles face was more serious. 'When do you see his legs?' he asked suspiciously.

'When he wears shorts' Emily replied rolling her eyes. 'Did you think we were showering together or something?' she asked.

Giles flinched. 'Please don't say things like that' he requested.

Deborah turned to Jessica. 'An all-girls school' she said. 'We'll never get boyfriends now' she said.

'Now _that's_ the kind of thing I don't mind hearing' Giles responded happily.

**Warehouse District – Cleveland – October 2003**

Kennedy looked at her plate. 'This looks really… nice' she said in mild surprise.

Robin Wood smiled. 'You know us modern twenty-first century males cook as well as take out the garbage' he replied. 'You really need to lose those old sexist stereotypes' he advised tongue firmly in cheek as he laid the other plate down in front of Shannon. 'Of course if you want I could leave the cooking and cleaning to you girls and spend my time in front of the TV watching football.'

'What is it?' Jackie asked. It wasn't something she'd tried before but it did look good.

'Paella Valenciana' Wood replied. 'It would normally have rabbit as well as chicken but Shannon made clear that she didn't want to eat any bunnies' he said with amusement. 'I added chorizo instead, and to give some flavour variation' he explained.

'I used to have a pet rabbit' Shannon told them before taking a mouthful.

Kennedy started to eat as Wood fetched his own plate and sat down with them at the table. Before they'd arrived he had purchased a large loft apartment which had been converted from a warehouse like much of the area, and it acted both as the Cleveland Headquarters plus of course their home. It was very nice, spacious enough for training and must be costing an absolute fortune.

'This Mexican?' Jackie asked.

'Spanish' Wood replied after swallowing a mouthful and washing it down with some Red Wine. 'Originally from Valencia hence Valenciana' he told her.

'Can you cook anything else?' Kennedy asked.

'Yes but if you think I'll always be the one preparing the food from now on you're dreaming' he replied with a smile. 'In any case I don't know how long I'll be here once you're properly established.'

'I don't think they'll have Shadow Valley ready for you to take over for a good long while' Kennedy noted. 'Last I heard Xander was still trying to organise the ground surveys let alone start any building work.'

'Well I was hoping to get to see a bit more of the world on the company credit card before I took up the new job' Wood replied. 'They're relocating Slayers worldwide who went to ground during the First's Campaign, might be nice to visit some places while collecting them.'

Kennedy took another bite and nodded. 'I think the main reason Buffy wants to send more girls here is to free up space at the Hyperion' she said eventually after swallowing. 'She was talking about sending a few of the European girls to London as soon as Wesley's father can sort out a base for them.'

'Seems reasonable' Wood remarked. 'Molly will get the job I suppose?'

'She's got seniority and it's her part of the world' Kennedy agreed. 'Best choice all round.'

Wood couldn't resist a smirk. 'So Molly gets to be Chief Slayer for the whole of Europe and you get Cleveland' he said. 'That's got to grate' he teased.

'I got the Hellmouth' Kennedy replied smugly. 'All she gets is a few Eurotrash vamps who probably hide out in old castles and worry about Peter Cushing.'

'I'd like to see Europe' Jackie remarked.

Kennedy fixed her with a stare. 'If you don't start raising your game I might transfer you there' she threatened.

'I told you' Jackie protested. 'That Vampire was like superpowered, I mean more than normal, I couldn't catch it.'

'There's only two things on two legs that a Slayer can't catch when they're really trying' Kennedy retorted. 'And that's Connor and Illyria when she does the funky time thing, which is cheating anyway.'

'There's at least one kind of demon that moves so fast it's a blur' Wood interrupted. 'It's called a Soul Eater from memory.'

'And Glory can really move too' Shannon reminded her.

Kennedy scowled before turning back to Jackie. 'There's only _four_ things on two legs a Slayer can't catch and _none_ of them is a damn vampire.'

'Connors part vampire' Shannon pointed out.

Kennedy ground her teeth. 'You _should_ have been able to catch that vampire' she told Jackie. 'Don't let it happen again' she told her.

The young slayer fixed her eyes intently on her plate and started eating again. There was a rumour that Kennedy had once bullied a girl so bad she'd hung herself, well with a little encouragement from the First, frankly Jackie could believe it. Why couldn't she have put more effort into firearms class? If she was a good shot she might have gotten Vi as her Team Leader instead and Vi wouldn't bully anyone, she might shoot you for running away like Wesley had told her to, but she wouldn't bully.

'So if you did go who would we get as a watcher?' Shannon asked Wood.

'Got to be D'Artagnon' Kennedy said thinking about it herself.

'He's a little young' Wood noted.

'He's only a year or so younger than me' Kennedy noted. 'That makes him older than most of the girls and he knows his watcher stuff.'

'Yeah but he hits us with sticks' Shannon interjected.

'Give him his due how fast did you learn to fence when you got hit by a bamboo pole every time you made a mistake?' Kennedy asked.

Shannon smirked. 'Molly said the reason he really did it was because he went to public school in England and it made him kinky' she replied.

Wood held up a hand. 'And you can stop this conversation heading in that direction right now' he said. 'Too disturbing by half' he told them, 'couldn't we talk slime demons over dinner instead? Something wholesome like that?'

Jackie giggled. 'How about Xander, he's pretty watcher-like.'

'Too much work for him to do' Wood replied. 'After the Hyperion he'll be stuck on the Shadow Valley project full time.'

Kennedy nodded. 'We might be short of watchers but we've only got one person in the ranks who knows _anything_ about construction.'

'We could arrange for some Engineers to run into some Vampires and save them in the nick of time, bring them aboard' Shannon suggested.

Kennedy looked at her. 'Were you spending much time with Blue because that plan reeks of her kind of thinking' she replied, 'by which I mean smart but seriously twisted and amoral.'

'Maybe she rubs off on you' Shannon replied with a grin. 'So is there dessert?' she asked hopefully.

**Yosemite National Park – California – October 2003**

It was amazing really, Wesley thought, he'd lived in California for years but he'd never taken time out to go see a place like this. 'I imagine the tree has a lot to say' he observed to Illyria who was staring up at a Giant Sequoia.

'I would translate the song for you but there is no common ground so it would be ultimately pointless' Illyria replied taking a few steps forward and opening her arms to seemingly embrace the tree. The trunk must have been near twenty feet in diameter so it was really more like she was leaning on it. 'It's old, by your standards I mean, many hundreds of winters' she told him.

Wesley smiled. 'It's a shame I'm not smart enough to understand the tree' he told her.

Illyria turned away from the Sequoia to face him. 'It is not a question of intellect only frame of reference' she told him. 'The tree would not be able to understand your quantum mechanics either.'

'Must be nice to be able to appreciate and understand both' Wesley observed.

Illyria nodded. 'My existence in this form is not without its benefits' she replied. 'Would you like a hug too? Are you showing jealously of the tree?' she asked.

'Well I'm certainly feeling small and insignificant' Wesley replied shifting the weight on his backpack. They had been hiking around for a while now and his shoulders were starting to ache not being used to carrying a load like that for an extended period. Illyria's own pack was rather heavier but she was a lot stronger with inordinately tougher skin even in human form without her armour.

'You _are_ small and insignificant as are we all in the overall scheme of schemes' Illyria replied walking back to him.'

'Even you?' Wesley asked with a smile.

'When considering the age and majesty of the multiverse yes' she replied. 'Not as insignificant as _you_ of course.'

'Well of course' Wesley replied wryly.

'In the big scheme of things you only really matter to me' Illyria told him as she reached him before smiling and kissing him gently on the lips. 'I like it here' she said. 'I'm glad you are here too' she told him.

'I've never been denigrated so pleasantly' Wesley told her. 'If you want to make the campsite by dark we should be moving.'

Illyria sighed. 'If you would let me carry you we would make far better time' she informed him yet again.

'Better sore feet than a wounded dignity' Wesley replied. 'You may be an awesomely powerful demon god but you still _look_ like a woman and I'm very old fashioned.'

'Ah so do you want to carry the tent and supplies?' Illyria inquired, 'to further demonstrate your masculinity?'

'I'm not _that_ old fashioned' Wesley replied. 'They weigh a bleeding ton.'

'Your principles are highly adaptable' Illyria observed.

Wesley grinned. 'I got used to you didn't I?'

'I think my was more due to me adapting you, than _you_ adapting to me' Illyria told him as they started moving again heading North through groves of trees without another person anywhere in sight. 'You were difficult at first but I triumphed, albeit not completely.'

'Total victory remains beyond your grasp?' Wesley asked her trying not to laugh. 'Why whatever can you mean?'

The God-King frowned. 'We have been together for quite some time and we have still not had sex' she stated. 'Not even when you get drunk and amorous have our relations progressed beyond making out' she said.

Wesley chuckled then his expression changed and he stopped walking, Illyria doing likewise and looking at him puzzled by his action. 'So what would you say if I told you victory was at hand?' he asked.

Illyria stared at him. 'So now we're in the middle of nowhere, and you're almost certainly going to be too tired to perform properly by the time we get to the campsite, and only _now_ do you want sex?'

'I am _not_ going to be too tired to perform properly' Wesley replied curtly.

'Well you'd better not be' Illyria told him in a huff then started moving again.

Wesley burst out laughing, that really wasn't how he expected that conversation to go. He trotted to catch up and took her hand and they walked along together for a while not speaking.

'Wesley' Illyria said eventually. 'You do realise that technically I am a virgin' she said in a manner that was practically sheepish.

'Is this where you ask me to be gentle with you?' he replied trying to keep a straight face.

'Don't be ridiculous, the total reverse is true and you know it' Illyria replied. 'It's just… if I'm not doing it right just tell me' she said.

Wesley nodded. 'Naturally I plan to adapt you to my requirements' he told her.

'Very funny' Illyria replied in a manner that made it clear she thought it was anything but.

Wesley grinned. 'I certainly thought so.'

'So I hope you've bought protection' Illyria said.

'I doubt our biology's are compatible enough for possible "issue" to be an issue' Wesley replied.

'You mean like for two vampires?' Illyria asked wryly. 'If you knock me up I'll make you marry me' she joked. Physiologically it really was impossible, she just didn't have the right internals to conceive or carry a child that way.

'Well you're already off to a good start as a bride, you're old, the shells borrowed and the blue is _well _covered' Wesley noted.

'Any more pale attempts at humour like that and you won't be getting laid tonight' Illyria told him.

Wesley shook his head in wonderment. 'You know I never thought I hear an _idle_ threat from those lips.'

'Just keep talking watcher-man and we'll see how idle that threat is' Illyria told him in the most serious tone she could muster which for Illyria was pretty damn serious.

'You're cute when you're horny and annoyed' Wesley told her.

'Why do you talk to me like this? You don't worship me at all do you?' she asked.

'Not the way you mean it no' Wesley agreed, 'but I _do_ love you' he admitted.

This time it was Illyria's turn to stop. She looked at him wide eyed with emotion 'Really?'

'No I'm lying to get in your pants' Wesley replied. 'No wait I've been able to do that whenever I wanted for months. Yes _of course_ really' he told her.

Illyria thought about that. 'Okay you _are_ getting laid tonight but I want you to repeat that you love me in front of witnesses back at the Hotel when we return.'

'You're not going to go all lovey-dovey in public are you?' Wesley asked.

'Don't be ridiculous' Illyria retorted. 'I had a bet with Anya that you'd break before Xander and once again I am victorious.'

Wesley decided it was best not to think to hard about that one.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – October 2003**

'So what do you think?' Gunn asked walking into the gunroom followed by the old man.

'Good grief man where did you get all this weaponry?' Stirling asked in shock. 'I dropped into Arnhem with less firepower than this.'

Gunn shrugged. 'Wes knows a serious lowlife that deals in serious hardware' he replied. 'We even get bulk discount and friends rates now.'

'What on Earth makes you think you'll ever need anything like this?' the watcher asked tapping his knuckle against the barrel of a light machinegun, one of several held on a rack against the wall.

'Could have used a few of those in Sunnydale, the shotguns weren't cutting it in the end' Gunn replied, 'anyhow better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.'

'What's _that_ thing?' Stirling asked.

'Grenade Launcher' Gunn told him. 'We _have_ used those.'

'And you've been training the girls with these things?' the watcher asked.

'The ones that can shoot yeah' Gunn answered. 'It's like English's, I mean Wesley's pet project. Vi is his star pupil but there's a few of them that are starting to catch up now' he continued. 'There's this South African girl arrived week before last, white South African I mean, the accent sucks and I bet her family weren't so good to my people but she can sure as shit shoot, been taught all her life.'

Stirling nodded. 'The Afrikaners certainly demonstrated that talent in the past' he responded. 'My grandfather fought against them during the Second Boer War. They very nearly ended my family line right then and there, nearly blew his head off I recall him saying.'

'When was that war?' Gunn asked.

'Finished in 1902' Stirling replied. 'That was over twenty years before even _I_ was born so please don't imagine me involved in that particular fracas.'

Gunn chuckled. 'So what's it like getting called back to the show after all these years?' he asked.

'Extremely unexpected' Stirling replied. 'I was being told I was past it round about the time you were being born my boy. If I ever meet the First Evil I suppose I should thank him, before trying to kill the murdering bastard that is.'

'I was talking to Faith, she doesn't like you might want to improve that relationship she's one mean and dangerous bitch' Gunn advised.

'We didn't get off on the right foot but I think what really colours her opinion is that I used to lead, and in fact set up the Special Operations Team that captured and later tried to kill her. Of course her encounter was long after my involvement ended, which was good for her because_ I_ would have succeeded in both cases' he said. 'The quality of personnel dropped drastically after my people started to retire' he claimed. 'We were all ex-Para's and Royal Marines, tough sons-of-bitches as you Americans might say' he told Gunn with a smile. 'After we fell out of the picture they started using badly trained morons in my opinion. All swagger and little in the way of intellect, combat experience or even dare I say intestinal fortitude.'

Stirling reached over and picked up an assault rifle, he shouldered it and looked down the gunsight. 'Rather more advanced than my old Sten Gun' he said. 'Heckler and Koch' he said noting the make, 'Jerry always did make good infantry weapons, everyone copied them after the war and with good reason, I actually carried a captured Stg-44 for a while, that was the first proper assault rifle you know' he said. 'If they weren't always trying to ventilate my brains I would have had many a good word for the buggers' he said replacing it on the rack. 'Still got a place for the old crossbows I see' he continued indicating a number of them at the other end of the armoury.

'Still usually the best way to dust a vamp' Gunn told him.

'Just because the weapon's old doesn't mean it's useless' Stirling observed.

'I'm sold on that' Gunn agreed grinning, 'I like to carry a battleaxe.'

'If I had your youth, plus your build, I would likely favour such a weapon also' Stirling replied. 'You can often parry a sword, but trying stopping a nice heavy axe with some force behind it, it would knock a sword aside and probably break your arm even if you had the armour to hold the edge.'

Gunn grinned. 'Yeah I've had that happen' he replied. 'Vampires are tough but they don't like that sort of treatment.'

'And they deserve all they get' Stirling said. 'I hope you don't mind me asking this but I've heard a little of your background and given what happened to your parents, and more recently your sister, it's hard to see how you came to be associated with Angelus, or should I say Angel.'

Gunn crossed his arms. 'Can't say I've not wondered that myself but the mans got a mission and I'm down with that' he replied. 'Still ready to dust his ass if I ever have to but the man's flat out told me that's what he wants me to do and you've got to respect that kinda commitment to the cause.'

'What about Spike?' Stirling asked.

'Well he's a lot more fun than Angel and I've seen him in action busting heads with the best of them, before he got ghosted I mean, but he's not my boy like Angel is and I always keep an eye on the vamps good or not.'

'Wise decision' Stirling told him. 'One more question if I may.'

'Go ahead' Gunn told him.

'Is Illyria romantically involved with Wesley Wyndham-Pryce or was I just imagining the whole thing in the couple of days before they went off to walk around trees?' the old watcher asked.

Gunn laughed. 'Yeah English and Blue are getting it on all right' he told him.

Stirling scratched his chin. 'Astonishing' he replied shaking his head in wonder. 'And would I also be correct in assuming that his father is blissfully unaware of this.'

'Yeah as far as I know' Gunn replied. 'Wes and his Pop don't get on, I get the impression the old man's an asshole' he continued then paused. 'I hope he's not a friend of yours.'

'Our relationship is not exactly that cordial' Stirling replied. Well at least he had a great story to send to the boys back home, Roger Wyndham-Pryce was in fact regarded as an arsehole by more than a few back home also and that was the kind of Grade-A gossip that was worth several rounds of drinks when he got back to England.

It was just such a damn shame he wouldn't be there to witness the elder Wyndham-Pryce's reaction when he found out what all the laughter was about whenever he entered a room.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_This Fanfic runs, jumps and sometimes even skips on reviews :-p_


	24. Chapter 24

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – October 2003**

'Well you certainly look scholarly' Giles told them as the twins arrived in the Lobby waiting to be driven to school.

'These uniforms are almost as bad as the ones at the Academy' Deborah replied coldly.

Giles picked his car keys off the desk. 'What's wrong with them?' he asked.

'Do you know how much effort we make _not _to look identical?' Deborah asked rhetorically pointing to Jessica then herself. 'Wearing the exact same clothing doesn't exactly help matters' she told him crossing her arms.

'Hey in a few years time guys will do anything to get you to dress up in outfits like that' Faith interjected from her position sprawled on the couch.

'Faith!' Giles snapped at her and gave her a look of serious rebuke, he was also blushing. 'They're twelve.'

'They ain't _stupid_' Faith retorted, her point being made by the fact they understood the comment and were giggling, but she still went back to reading the latest report Kennedy had emailed over from Cleveland. Paperwork really wasn't Faith's thing but you had to keep up with events on the Hellmouth, those places could go to hell in a hand-basket in the blink of an eye.

Emily appeared from the office holding three fountain pens and some ink cartridges which she handed out to her sisters. 'I told you we had some of these in the stationary cupboard' she said. 'And don't worry I told the Principal how to tell you apart' she told the twins.

'Hair style?' Giles asked. That's how he had to do it before he got to now them better.

'No I told her that when somebody made a crack about their accents Jess is the one that _doesn't_ try to insert a piece of furniture up the responsible girls nose' Emily replied laughing.

Jessica laughed along but Deborah was indignant. 'Just because I don't take any crap from people like you two do' she retorted angrily. She'd always been fairly headstrong but the environmental factor of living in a building full of professional and semi-professional demon hunters where violence, at least as a topic of conversation, was constant had made her even more direct and opinionated in the last few months.

'Language' Giles chided.

'I _did_ moderate my language' Deborah replied evenly.

Giles took a breath. 'You'll watch them at school won't you?' he asked Emily.

'That's really the family business' Emily replied with a smile, 'not that the business usually involves watching the family' she joked.

'I won't be there to pick you up after school' Giles told them, 'I've got to go to an auction of rare occult items this afternoon but somebody else will' he continued. 'Have you got everything?' he asked.

'No' Deborah replied. 'I'm minus one item I _did_ have' she declared throwing a look at Emily.

'Have you got everything you should be taking to school, not including some kind of weapon that I told your elder sister to check you both for?' Giles asked.

'Still don't know why she checked me too' Jessica queried.

'In case you were carrying a spare for her' Emily explained smugly, she knew them so well. 'Knife in the bottom of her bag' she informed Giles indicating a scowling Deborah, 'which is now safely back in the armoury where it belongs.'

'Good' Giles responded, 'and what about yourself?'

'One wooden stake and one concealed ceramic blade that won't trigger any metal detectors' Emily told him. You could never be too careful.

'Why does _she_ get to carry those?' Deborah complained. '_Everyone_ gets to carry swords and pistols and stuff but us' she protested.

'House rules' Faith said not looking up from the report. 'No weapons until you're at least thirteen' she told them. 'Anyhow _she_ knows what she's doing.'

Deborah snorted. 'Oh yeah slit one Bringer throat and suddenly she's some kind of expert' she said sarcastically.

'Enough' Emily said sharply, glaring at the girl who clammed up immediately realising she'd overstepped the mark there. Emily was still not over that particular event even though it had been the right thing to do at the time. Although not as quiet as Jessica Emily was nonetheless quite a placid person and opening up a man's carotid artery, even one that had been corrupted by evil into a pseudo-demonic state, wasn't really her forte.

'Just remember' Giles began, 'if you really hate the school…'

'We can leave?' Jessica interrupted brightly.

'No I was going to say you're going to be very miserable the next few years' Giles replied, desperately trying to keep a straight face.

Both of the twins glared at Giles. 'That wasn't funny' Deborah told him.

'I thought it was' Emily disagreed.

Jessica redirected her glare at her older sister. 'Sycophant' she accused earning a nod of heartfelt agreement from her twin before the two of them span on their heels and stomped off towards the car.

'You agreed to take them' Emily pointed out.

Giles sighed. 'At least they annunciate the backchat nicely' he muttered. That was one major step up from Buffy.

**Warehouse District – Cleveland – October 2003**

'Yes we've moved all the furniture out of the way' Kennedy said into her cellphone, 'no you aren't going to appear inside a big cardbox box again that was Xander's idea of a joke not mine'

A flash of light lit up the room for a split second as Willow appeared in the centre of the room holding a cellphone of her own which she snapped shut. 'You have no idea how disconcerting that was teleporting into the Hyperion Lobby and finding myself in pitch black' she said. 'It was only when I heard the laughter I realised what they'd done' she said.

Kennedy turned off her cellphone and darted in for a kiss. 'Missed you' she said and the kiss turned into a passionate embrace.

'You're standing in front of the TV' Shannon interrupted loudly. 'Either get a room or at least get out of the way' she told them.

Willow broke off the kiss and turned to find herself looking at Shannon and Jackie who were sitting on the couch with a large bag of popcorn between them trying to look around the couple who were stood squarely between them and the television.

'If we _wanted_ to watch hot girl-on-girl action we'd have a different channel up on the cable' Shannon declared, with Jackie nodding her agreement.

Kennedy and Willow quickly shuffled sideways to clear the view

'Thanks' Shannon told them, took another handful of popcorn and went back to watching The Bourne Identity, now Matt Damon _was_ worth watching she thought to herself.

'I booked a table at a restaurant' Kennedy told Willow leading her away from the living area so they could talk without provoking popcorn to be thrown at them. 'There's some really nice ones nearby' she said, 'got to be back before it's too late though sorry' she apologised.

Willow nodded, the Hellmouth was Kennedy's responsibility. Once they had another team or two on Cleveland they could start rotating shifts but the next three girls weren't due to be assigned until the following week so until then Kennedy was patrolling nightly. Well there was plenty of daylight left, 'What time is the table booked for?' Willow asked.

'Six O'Clock' Kennedy answered with a smile.

Willow checked her watch. 'So what are we going to do until then?' she asked.

'Something _quiet_' Shannon called across to them turning her head and grinning.

'Hey _I'm_ in charge here' Kennedy called back. 'No promises.'

Shannon turned to Jackie. 'At least the walls are thicker than the Hyperion' she noted chuckling at the reaction of the slightly younger girl who was starting to blush. At least she wasn't up in arms about the pair. One of the newer girls Sarah-Louise was a devout Christian Fundamentalist with some _very_ strong opinions and highly negative things to say about homosexuality. Needless to say she _wasn't_ going to be assigned a job in Cleveland and in fact Buffy was apparently finding it difficult to do anything with her since she wouldn't associate with anybody remotely demonic either. It had been pointed out that the origin of the slayer powers was energy taken from a demon but she'd chosen not to accept that. Shannon wondered how they were going to deal with the inevitable batch of Slayers from Muslim countries that were likely to have equally if not even more stridently voiced issues with many of the group but fortunately that was the Chiefs problem to deal with, she was just another one of the Indians the slayer thought gratefully. All she had to do was go where she was told, slay what she was supposed to slay and not die, having nearly been stabbed to death the latter was firmly imprinted on her mind.

'If they're going out to eat want to order in a Pizza?' Jackie asked.

'No anchovies' Shannon told her. Those things were pure evil and she knew evil when she saw and/or tasted it.

Jackie frowned. 'Okay but I'm not having Hawaiian either' she replied.

'How about we go to Doublemeat Palace instead?' Shannon asked. 'Just remember to put on your collapsible sword' she told her. 'I heard a funny story about one of those places once back when I was in Sunnydale.'

Jackie nodded. It wasn't like she ever went out _without_ having the thing strapped to her forearm anyhow. It didn't ruin the way her clothes hung like that damn shoulder holster and you could never get enough of the expression on a demon or a vamps face when you suddenly made a sword appear from your jacket sleeve.

Hopefully she'd get issued one of the new scythes in a few months too, now _that_ was going to be sweet the slayer considered happily. Maybe Kennedy would let her borrow hers when it arrived so she could get used to using one in action. Scythe in one hand, pistol or collapsible sword in the other. That was the way to keep a lid on the Hellmouth Jackie thought, if the First Evil wanted to try its luck on another Hellmouth it was welcome to try. Jackie had missed out on the Sunnydale fighting but she was in the prime position for the rematch she knew and maybe after of Bringer or maybe even Turok'Han action Kennedy might take her seriously.

'So think you could take Jason Bourne?' Shannon asked watching the next fight scene unfold.

Jackie thought about it. 'You mean as a pet?' she asked.

'Hey if anyone is putting that guy on a leash it's me' Shannon replied laughing.

'We can share' Jackie offered magnanimously.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – October 2003**

'Well how was I to know?' Anya protested. 'I don't associate in those kinds of circles'

'What's going on?' Buffy asked sticking her head out from the Office where she'd been talking to Angel. The raised voices had drawn their attention.

'I didn't know what it was' Anya said. 'Don't try pinning this on me' she warned defensively.

Emily was fuming, she'd only just got back from her first day at the new school, Gunn had collected her and the twins and when she got home she had to deal with this. 'I asked where Stephen was and she tells me that a woman called up and asked for help so she sent Stephen there.'

'I didn't send him, he heard the name and volunteered to go' Anya stated.

'He did _what_?' Emily asked.

'He volunteered' Anya repeated. 'He said something about it being better not to send one of the girls and he usually knows what he's doing so I didn't think anything of it.'

Buffy stepped out and crossed her arms. 'Would somebody please tell me what's going on?' she asked, Angel appearing just behind her.

'Like I said a woman phoned up, said she'd heard we could help out and that she knew Angel and that she had a demon problem and I thought that's what we do, help people with demon problems' Anya answered. 'Stephen took the job and I suppose he's there now.'

'They used to tell stories about that place at the Academy' Emily said through gritted teeth. 'I'll bet he volunteered, I'll kill him' she said.

'Still not seeing the problem here' Buffy told them.

Emily turned to the Slayer. 'She sent my boyfriend to Madame Dorion's' she told Buffy.

Angel broke out laughing though Buffy was still clearly none the wiser. 'It's a Demon Brothel' he explained though the laughter.

'It's a _what_?' Buffy exclaimed.

'It's a demon brothel' Emily said, 'where guys go to have sex with demons.'

Buffy stared at her. 'Why would anyone want to have sex with a… okay I won't finish that sentence _way_ too many examples on the staff' she admitted. 'Still Eww' she added with a grimace.

'We're not talking ugly, slimy demons here' Angel told her. 'They're really attractive. High class select clientele.'

'How the hell do you know?' Buffy demanded to be told.

'I went there on a job' Angel responded defensively. 'I wasn't a customer, Wesley told me about the place.'

'All watchers know about the place' Emily interjected. 'It's legendary' she continued. 'The Council never tried to do anything about it because they didn't think it was evil just… immoral.'

'Well at least he had the sense not to bring any teenage girls into the environment' Anya noted. 'I bet the Madam would try to hire one, lots of guys would like to try out a slayer I'd bet.'

'What did she say was the problem?' Buffy asked.

'Attempted protection racket, Demon gang' Anya answered.

Buffy's eyes widened. 'And you let Stephen go on his own?' she asked incredulously. 'He's just a kid.'

'No he's not' Emily countered. 'Stephen can handle himself in a fight' she declared sticking up for him whilst still wanting to kill him.

'Might not need to handle _himself _at Madam Dorions' Angel couldn't resist saying earning a glare from both Buffy and Emily.

'You don't need to worry about that' Anya said. 'He bought help along he just didn't want to take one of the girls.'

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. As a matter of fact Stephen was pretty good in a fight, especially with a sword, collapsible or otherwise, but that was pretty good as a _human_ he wasn't tough enough to think about taking on multiple demons on his own. 'Xander? Gunn?' she asked. Both of them had a lot more field time than the young watcher especially Gunn who had fought vampires since he was about the twins age.

Anya shook her head. 'No he took Connor along' she answered with a smile.

Angels jaw dropped. 'He did _what_?'

'You don't get to hurt Stephen before I do' Emily told Angel forcefully.

**Bel Air – Los Angeles – October 2003**

'Why do _I_ have to play the muscle?' Connor whispered as Stephen rang the doorbell.

'Because you're five times stronger than me' Stephen whispered back reasonably.

Connor thought about it, no he couldn't argue with that he decided after a seconds consideration. He put on the chrome sunglasses Stephen had given him and took a pose a step behind Stephen with his hands behind his back, trying to look menacing and professional. They were both wearing black suits, the watcher had insisted he put one on and Connor had to confess they looked the part.

The door opened. 'Madame Dorion?' Stephen enquired of the well dressed attractive older woman.

'Yes?' she replied.

'Stephen Travers, Watchers Council of Great Britain and here representing Angel Investigations' he introduced himself holding out his hand which the woman shook though looking at him suspiciously. 'My associate Connor' he introduced his companion.

'Ma'am' Connor said nodding his head but not offering his hand.

'No offence but you both look a little… young' the Brothel Madam told them leading them inside.

'It's not the years Madam Dorion it's the experience' Stephen replied with a smile. 'I doubt we'll have difficulty dealing with your problem' he claimed confidently.

'Well we'll see' she replied. 'Can I ask what you plan to charge if you're successful?' she asked. 'I prefer to deal in cash as you can understand.'

'I doubt a fee will be necessary' Stephen replied. 'It shouldn't take too long and to be honest we weren't otherwise engaged. Much of the work is being undertaken by our Slayer colleagues these days, they need the practice so those of us with more field experience tend to lead relatively quiet lives.'

'Yes I have heard plenty about the Slayers recently, many of the girls are quite fearful' Madame Dorion told them.

'No need to be I assure you' Stephen told her as she led them into a large room. 'Our people are quite tolerant of demons as long as they aren't a threat to humans.'

Connor was extremely glad of the sunglasses, it meant they couldn't see him staring. He tried to maintain a stony expression but damn these girls were hot, and scantily clad, and demony but not at all in a bad way. The House wasn't going to open for business for another half hour so the girls full attention was on them, okay he had to admit, the watcher had poise, his expression didn't shift at all.

'Good afternoon ladies' Stephen greeted them collectively with a slight bow. 'You told our office staff that the miscreants were due presently I believe' he asked Madame Dorion turning back to her.

The Madame nodded. 'I was told to produce the first payment today or they would take it out on my girls' she told him. 'I can't exactly go to the Police and they scared off my previous security people.'

Stephen sighed. 'So difficult to find good help these days' he sympathised.

'These guys are supposed to help us?' one of the girls asked. 'They're just kids' she declared.

The watcher sighed. 'Please don't be deceived by appearances' he said. 'Connor perhaps a demonstration is in order?' he suggested.

Connor moved like lightning, the girl suddenly found herself spun around, sat on a wooden chair which was then held aloft one handed by the teenager. He held her there wide-eyed for a few seconds before returning both chair and girl gently to the ground. 'Sorry if I scared you Miss' he told the girl before returning to Stephen's side. For his part the young watcher had observed the scene with feigned disinterest but in reality he thought the move had been fucking cool.

'He's not human' the Madame stated flatly indicating Connor.

'Mostly I am' Connor said. 'Just stronger, faster… and a lot meaner' he told her. The girls were looking at him _very_ differently now and he liked it a lot.

'What about you?' one of the other girls asked Stephen sliding up to him. He was a lot younger and edgy than most of the men that came here.

'Completely human' Stephen told her, 'but I keep a few tricks up my sleeve' he added extending his right forearm just as his collapsible sword slid out into place with a series of metallic clicks and scrapes. He slashed it through the air in a clean fluid movement then activated the return mechanism that bought it back into its concealed position. He was enjoying the crap out of himself, acting the suave professional, and it was taking all his willpower not to grin inanely.

'Well aren't you James Bond in the flesh' the girl said to him.

'Well I've got the accent but to be honest I'm more of a Scotch rather than a Vodka Martini man' Stephen replied with a half smile.

'Well can I get you something to drink?' the girl asked. 'A nice Single Malt?'

'Not while working' Stephen told her. He was actually more worried about the Whiskey making him shudder, he was really more of a beer man and even that wasn't easy to get in this stupid country with its daft drinking laws. Back home he could go to the pub at eighteen, here it was twenty-one, they just weren't civilised at all he thought sadly.

The doorbell rang. 'I guess they're early' Madame Dorion said. 'I don't want any violence if it can avoided.

Stephen nodded. 'We always try the civilised approach first' he reassured her. 'If they don't take the hint that's when we'll be more… persuasive' he added reaching into his jacket and pulling out an automatic pistol pulling back the slide to chamber a round ready before returning it. The Glock still wouldn't fire unless the trigger was pulled correctly but it was ready to go if he had to pull it in a hurry.

Connor rolled his head around his neck to loosen up then cracked his knuckles more for effect than anything else. This was even more fun so far than Stephen had told him it was going to be.

The two of them went to answer the door leaving Madame Dorion and the girls back in the main room as they approached Stephen whispered to Connor. 'Breathe a word of this to Emily and I'll kill you' he said seriously.

'Going to get her one of those negligees?' Connor whispered back grinning.

'Cold shower tonight' Stephen told him trying not to laugh. 'Oh shit I love this job sometimes' he declared still whispering.

Stephen opened the door and found himself looking at a well dressed human, or maybe it was a vampire, with a bulky demon of a type he didn't immediately recognise standing behind. 'Good Afternoon Gentlemen' he greeted them with a friendly smile. 'Piss off or die' he added wiping the smile back off.

Connor watched their reactions, so much for civilised he thought. Oh yeah this day just kept getting better he decided as things turned violent.

By the time Angel arrived on scene Connor and Stephen were bundling the bodies wrapped in sheets into the back of their SUV. Things were all downhill for Stephen from there but he still thought it was all worth it despite all the grief he had to put up with from Connors dad and an irate girlfriend.

The offers they got were damn memorable too, not to mention graphic. Connor would certainly never hear the phrase 'get some tail' again without zoning out.

It was just a shame that Wesley arrived back the next day and the gossip shifted elsewhere because Connor and Stephen really did enjoy the limelight for a few hours there.

* * *

_**Note from the Author:**_

_In case you're missing it yes there **will **be some nice action in the next chapter..._


	25. Chapter 25

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE**

**Slavic Village – Cleveland – October 2003**

'You're _serious_?' Kennedy asked incredulously looking at the pack of Demons that confronted them in the alley.

'_Yes_ I'm serious' Willow told her, 'they're actually called "Mofo" Demons' she continued with a shrug.

'What do they think they're like "bad mofo's" or something?' Shannon joked hefting her broadsword, 'because I'm just not seeing it.'

'They're strong' Willow warned, 'vampire strong.'

'Seen them before?' Kennedy asked.

'Read about them, Wesley has a great library, they sometimes hire themselves out as muscle' Willow replied.

'Must be reasonably intelligent then, not that they look like it' Kennedy noted.

'We could ask them to surrender' Jackie suggested. 'They're not on the G list are they?' she asked. Several species of Demons were on the "E" or Extermination list, any demon from the clans or species on the list were subject to summary extermination, it was a fairly short list so far, and you had to be pretty vicious and irredeemable to get on it, but the standing orders were if you meet something on the G list it died.

Willow thought about that. 'They don't exactly look the type to capitulate without a show of force but you could try it.'

Kennedy took a deep breath. 'Under the authority of the International Council of Watchers and Slayers I order you to lay down your arms and disperse or we will use force to disperse you' the slayer told the demons in her most commanding tones. 'And no hurting humans or we'll kick your asses' she added.

The demons continued to look back at them making no move to either leave or attack.

'No that didn't work' Kennedy observed. 'You say they hire out as mercs?' she asked.

'So I read' Willow replied.

'Then I'm wondering what's through that door back there that they're guarding' Kennedy pondered. 'Jackie are you sure you know how to use that thing?' she asked.

'Just because I wasn't good enough to get assigned to Vi doesn't mean I was useless' Jackie replied. 'My scores put me in the top fifty-percent anyway.'

That would have to do. 'Last chance' Kennedy called out to the demons. 'We'll kill you, I mean it' she told them again to no reaction.

'They probably think they've got a chance if we go hand to hand' Shannon suggested.

'Who the hell goes hand to hand when they don't have to?' Kennedy asked. 'This isn't the Age of Chivalry' she said, 'it's the age of gunpowder' she continued raising her pistol, Shannon and Jackie doing likewise. All three had fitted silencers, no point in waking half the neighbourhood.

Kennedy aimed then thought better of it, 'Willow can you do anything?' she asked. 'Like maybe a show of force so we don't have to just kill these clowns?'

The Witch held her hands out in front of her palms facing each other and began to generate a fireball, the glowing sphere lighting up the dark alleyway and casting shadows on the walls. The fireball grew in size and intensity until it was eight inches across and almost blinding to look at. 'Demons' Willow began, her voice reverberating with power as it echoed off the walls. 'Your loyalty to your master is admirable but foolish, you cannot hope to stop us you will only succeed in getting yourselves killed' she told them and then in an even showier move she lifted off the ground levitating a foot about the asphalt.

The Mofo Demons looked at her, blinked, looked at her again. One turned to the others. 'Screw _this_' it said in what sounded like a New York accent 'We're not getting enough green to have to deal with_ this_ shit' it declared.

The other demons nodded and they all dropped their weapons, an assortment of knives and clubs.

'Definitely _not_ called Mofo because they're bad motherfuckers' Shannon whispered to Jackie who snorted with laughter.

'Alright get lost and don't show your faces around here again' Kennedy told the demons. 'What the hell were you guarding anyway?'

'High Stakes Poker Game' the demon that had talked before answered. 'Have to have a thousand kittens worth of chips to enter.'

Kennedy's jaw dropped, then she figured that looked undignified and snapped in shut again as the demons made there way past sheepishly in single column and disappeared into the night.

Willow lowered herself to the ground and launched the fireball straight up into the sky. It hurtled thousands of feet into the air and disappeared into a cloud, it occurred to Willow she didn't really know where it would end up but she reasoned it was pretty unlikely to hit anything and would peter out long before it reached the stratosphere.

'Hey are we the slayer vice-squad now because we've already busted up the local orpheus ring and tonight it's illegal gambling' Shannon asked moving towards the door getting ready to kick it open.

'What about prostitution? Are there demon hookers too?' Jackie asked.

Kennedy rolled her eyes. 'Don't be ridiculous' she told the young slayer.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – October 2003**

'I know I don't get out to the wilderness much, or _ever_ if I can avoid it, reminds me too much of home, but isn't a vacation supposed to where you go to relax and come back refreshed?' Lorne asked Wesley as he dropped into the chair across the dining table from him. Wesley had arrived back late the previous night and had gone straight to bed after several hours driving, he looked no better for the rest though.

'No offence man but he's got a point you look terrible' Gunn agreed before taking a bite of his ham and eggs. Eve walked over and refilled his coffee cup, she looked broken too but in her case it was psychological. Being cooped up in this place so long, plus constant exposure to Andrew as her putative boss, had sapped her spirit. She didn't even bother to make any derisory remarks before moving onto the next table, she hadn't heard anything from Lindsey and that was likely preoccupying her thoughts, she genuinely seemed to care for the guy and was worried about him now that Wolfram and Hart knew he was out there and was trouble.

Wesley examined the food unenthusiastically. 'I'm just tired' he told them. 'Absolutely bleeding knackered would be closer to the mark' he conceded.

'Well what did you expect if you go hiking up and down mountains?' Lorne asked rhetorically. 'You should have gotten Illyria to portal you to Tahiti and spent the days sipping a Sea Breeze on the beach' he said then paused. 'In fact thinking about it I'll ask her to send me there next week, Willow's got this great glamour spell that solves the whole green thing for a couple of days.'

'It wasn't the hiking that took it out of me' Wesley said with the hint of a smile and more than a hint of a self-satisfied expression forming.

Gunn looked at him. 'Oh you _didn't_?' he asked, a grin starting to appear.

'If I'd thought more about it I might not have' Wesley replied. 'She never gets tired and she doesn't sleep, now that may sound great in theory, and the practice is pretty fun too I'll admit, but now I've opened Pandora's Box, to use a very Freudian metaphor, if she doesn't ease off on me I'll be dead by November.'

Lorne chuckled. 'You cost me ten bucks, my bet was you wouldn't fold before Christmas and give her a special present then' he told Wesley.

'Sorry' Wesley apologised, 'It was just the right moment' he explained. 'So who won the betting pool?'

'Don't know off-hand, there was nearly five hundred dollars in it though' Lorne told him.

'You people really need lives of your own' Wesley declared with a smirk. 'Right I know from your expression you've just come up with a line' he told Gunn. 'Go ahead spill it' he told him. Better to let all the crap that was going to be directed his way out into the open with good grace.

Gunn tried to keep a straight face. 'So is it true what they say?' he asked.

'Is what true?' Wesley asked playing along.

'That once you've had Blue you never go back?' he asked then collapsed into laughter setting off Lorne.

'Laugh it up lads' Wesley told them taking a bite from his scrambled eggs, 'but think about this; she'll _never_ look any older, she'll try _anything_, she doesn't get headaches and she doesn't sleep so she lets me have the whole bed to myself afterwards.'

Gunn stopped laughing.

'Well if I _could_ go any more green with envy my little English Muffin, I just might' Lorne told Wesley.

Wesley smiled. 'And the best part is, though it takes getting used to, despite her…' he paused to consider the right word, 'issues' he said eventually, 'and quite how it happened I don't know,' he continued, 'I love her.'

'Seriously?' Gunn asked. He could imagine affection between them but love was beyond that and English wasn't exactly the type to give out the emotional status information unless he really meant it.

'She's just got this quality that sneaks up on you' Wesley explained, 'it's part childlike curiosity, part condescension and with a large helping of megalomania' he said, 'except that with me she's always somehow insecure with it' he told them. 'It's terribly sweet and to be honest it just makes me feel… special, and flattered and, as it happens, sodding exhausted to boot' he joked.

Lorne smiled. 'No need to sing me a tune, I know sincerity when I hear it' he said. 'I hope you and the Bluebird make sweet music together' he told him.

'Sorry man but I've _got_ to ask' Gunn said leaning forward to whisper. 'What did she say the first time you…'

'Victory' Wesley interrupted, 'she yelled out "victory" very loudly' he confided in a whisper of his own starting the laughter off again. 'Hey what did you expect?' he asked. 'To partially quote Caesar, Veni, Vici' he said, 'she came and she conquered' he told them somehow deadpanning the line before cracking up into laughter himself.

'So what's it like being a vassal state?' Lorne asked in amusement.

'The collaboration part is highly rewarding' Wesley replied, 'albeit life-shortening as I said.'

'Don't you think she'll be sore you telling us this though?' Gunn asked.

Wesley snorted. 'First thing I saw her do today was grab Anya and start explaining in graphic detail, in Illyria's mind I'm a _trophy_ remember.'

'So where is she planning to _mount_ you then?' Gunn asked. Damn I'm _on fire_ today he thought to himself.

Wesley chuckled. 'Good one' he admitted, 'and anywhere she pleases I would have thought. 'I've never been a boy toy before' he said, 'it's both flattering and terribly demeaning all at the same time.'

'So where is she anyway?' Gunn asked. 'She's not one to skip breakfast even if she has to eat the tableware.'

'Ah yes' Wesley replied. 'She's currently off with Anya buying me a Sports Car' he answered smugly.

'What?' Gunn asked.

'A Jaguar XKR Convertible' Wesley told him. 'Apparently I've been a very good boy and I've earned a present' he declared with a chuckle stretching his arms. 'Life is good' he said, 'drastically curtailed perhaps, but good nonetheless' he noted happily.

'We need to get rid of him quickly' Gunn told Lorne seriously. 'There's only so much good luck in the world and to my way of thinking he's using up everyone's in the entire western United States.'

'Oh come on' Wesley responded, 'don't exaggerate. Los Angeles County maybe, California tops' he argued.

**Santa Susana Mountains – California – October 2003**

Faith swung the scythe and neatly buried it in the back of the closest demon, it went in neat and smooth severing the spine, the thing was just as sharp as Knox claimed it was and it handled like a dream she thought, wrenching it back out and using it to parry away a axe that was being swung at her head.

The high carbon steel edge of the axe actually _dented_ when it hit the scythe leaving no sign of damage on the gleaming red chrome itself but Faith still had to absorb the force of the blow which sent shockwaves down her arms. She had no idea what species these bastards were but they were strong.

A hand reached over from behind and grabbed the demon that had swung the axe at Faith by the chin, pulling its head back as another hand this time holding a blade slid across its throat cutting deep into the demons flesh opening up its jugular and spraying Faith with blood. The demon gurgled in its own blood and with a look of horror on its face it collapsed to the ground Connor grinning viciously behind it, a bloody hunting knife in his hand.

'Connor duck' Faith bellowed and he dropped to the dirt as she swung the scythe holding it by the very end of the handle and neatly decapitated another of the enemy. It barely felt like there was any resistance at all, another thumbs up for the latest thing in slayer weaponry.

Ten yards away Molly felt her shortsword being ripped from her hands by the demon she was grappling with up close. It snarled baring its teeth, drool dripping down its wicked incisors before the English slayer managed to break its grip enough to get some movement and bought her head forward as hard as she could, smashing her forehead into its nose practically pulping it in a vicious headbutt that stunned it enough for her to break free entirely. Jumping back to open up the distance she reached down to her ankle and slid out a Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife from her boot. 'Come on then' she bellowed. 'Let's have ya.'

Before the demon could answer the challenge a crossbow bolt slammed into its chest burying itself a good four inches inside and it fell backwards. Molly span to find one of the two newbies reloading one of their oversized, and overpowered arbalests gritting her teeth with the effort of cocking it. An ordinary human would have needed a mechanical winch.

When they'd located the concealed nest they had badly underestimated the numbers done there. The demons had been raiding at night down into Santa Clarita which was normally one of the safest places to live near Los Angeles, like many other clans they had been forced out of the city by slayer patrols and were now hiding out in the hills and mountains that ringed the urban and suburban areas of Los Angeles County.

Faith ran at the next group of demons howling like a banshee brandishing her scythe. She'd only bought along Molly and two of the rookies and it was starting to look like a mistake but she was damned if she was going to retreat, with Mr Red and Sharpy in her mitts she couldn't care less how many demons were in her midst.

At least Connor was along for the ride. As the best tracker and outdoorsman on the crew he had been taken along to play bloodhound and he'd sniffed them out after only a couple of hours searching the dry scrub and forest covered mountains, backtracking them from the edge of town up a trail that only something inhumanly strong and agile could follow.

As Faith ran at half a dozen of the beasts Connor sprinted to catch up and crashed into them a split second afterwards shortly followed by Molly who had retrieved her shortsword and came in swinging, her fighting-knife now in her left hand. By sheer momentum they broke up the demon mass and started to make the things pay in blood.

One of the rookie slayers fired her crossbow a final time and pulled her own shortsword. 'Come on!' she yelled and started to charge in, the other was less enthusiastic and decided to keep at crossbow range. The newbie slayer that charged used her sword like a lance and simply slammed it through a demons chest knocking it over as she drove it right through. The damn blade locked in fast and she was forced to dive to the side to avoid another demon swinging a poorly fashioned wooden club studded with rusty nails.

Firmly in the middle of a vicious Melee Faith pounded the wooden stake at the base of the scythe handle into a demons guts tearing its flesh open in a jagged ripping wound before slicing open another with the blade edge. No mere sword or axe could cut so cleanly or efficiently as that blade, even the enchanted shortswords paled in comparison, the scythe was a purpose-made demon slaying machine, which meant it actually had something in common with its owner. Both scythe and slayer were made to do two things, spill demon blood and dust vampires, they both did so very well, together they were awesome.

Connor punched a demon in the face, it would have been a jarring blow even if he hadn't been wearing brass knuckles which he actually was, the demon staggered back and got another punch before it could regain its balance which dropped it to the ground in a heap. Enjoying himself immensely the teenager thrust the serrated edged knife in his other hand into the belly of another and ripped it upwards like a razor sharp saw opening it up from just above the crotch to above where its navel would have been if it had one. When he was growing up on Quartoth these had been the moments he had lived for, sometimes been willing to risk dying for, there was a slayer saying that death was their gift, maybe it was but it was Connors joy.

The demons weren't the type to retreat, they were strong, fast and in their own way could maybe be described as courageous, or perhaps too dumb to run away, but they were outclassed. A backhand blow connected with Molly and sent her spinning away unconscious and the newbie that got stuck in to the melee suffered a broken arm and her left cheek was slashed open by talons but it wasn't good enough. Faith took a lot of punches which hurt but what the hell did some cuts and bruises matter anyway. Most of the demons weren't even armed, except for their teeth and claws, it was usually like that, most clans chose to fight unarmed, demons that used tools or weapons were a relative rarity.

The fight finish was almost anticlimactic, Faith bought the scythe down hard on the top of the head of the last demon and split it in two, cleaving the skull almost neatly in half and letting its brains spill out somewhat more messily.

Breathing heavily Faith turned to the injured slayer who was clutching her arm, blood running down her face. 'Fucking A Sue' she praised her. 'And from now on _nobody_ gets to call you rookie or newbie or they answer to me okay?'

Connor had run over to Molly and checked her pulse. 'She's just out' he said. 'I'll carry her back down the trail' he offered.

Faith nodded and turned to the other slayer who had stayed back. 'Listen up rookie' she practically spat. 'Don't you _ever_ hang back in a fight like that again or I _will_ rip you a new one' she promised. 'If you'd gotten involved when Sue did we might have broken the fuckers then and there' she told her. 'Now pick up Sue's crossbow and carry it back down for her, you alright Sue?' she asked.

'I think my arms broken' the young slayer replied wincing in pain. 'I'll be okay' she added fighting back the tears.

'We'll get it set, I'll get you drunk and if you want we'll go out and get you laid' Faith offered.

'I'll take a raincheck on everything but the getting it set okay boss?' Sue replied smiling back despite the pain.

'Hey your loss, I know some great clubs' Faith told her then looked around. 'I hate this wilderness crap' she said. 'Give me urban decay any day of the week' she declared.

**Wolfram and Hart Building – Los Angeles – October 2003**

'You've done _what_?' Hamilton asked in astonishment.

'You heard me' Lilah replied. 'We needed a long-term strategy and the Circle needed to regain some face in the demon community, it really wasn't difficult to achieve.'

Hamilton looked at her. 'You invaded another dimension?'

Lilah smirked. 'I prefer to think of it as regaining lost territory' she replied. 'Pylea was a world under the control of Wolfram Hart until Angel and his merry band of do-gooders interfered we've just taken it back.'

'How?' Hamilton asked.

'The government there was already in turmoil, constant shifts in factions and alliances, no real figurehead so we simply moved in an army, took over and put a puppet government in charge. I think the new figurehead used to run their police force, Narwek I think the name was.'

'What army?' Hamilton asked.

'Five Legions borrowed from ArchDuke Sebassis was more than enough to take over once they were invited in as "peacekeeping troops" to restore order' Lilah replied. 'His people had already been raiding Pylea since our priests there lost control so it wasn't difficult to arrange, I hear coats made of Pylean skin taken during the raids had become quite popular amongst his officers as it happens.'

'But why Pylea?' Hamilton asked.

'Their technology was medieval at best and although they had a warrior culture they were too divided amongst themselves to effectively repulse an invasion, there were racial problems we could exploit, especially between the human population and the demon clans and most importantly it's a way to restore some honour to the Circle membership. The Archduke is extremely pleased with himself, to all intents and purposes he is now the owner of Pylea, and its wealth in terms of slaves and material goods are flowing to him, minus the percentage that I negotiated for Wolfram and Hart of course' Lilah answered. 'Most importantly however we choose Pylea because although it's another realm it's one that will hit our enemies where they live, psychologically anyway' she said. 'Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan is a Pylean native, Winifred Burkle, and by extension Illyria, lived there for several years, Angel, Charles Gunn and Wesley all spent time there during which they organised the overthrow of our rule and Cordelia Chase was an actual Princess there, honest to badness _royalty_. Trust me' she promised, 'when they find out this will _hurt_.'

'How exactly are they going to find out?' Hamilton asked. It wasn't like CNN had a branch off-world. Rumour had it that Fox News was in preliminary negotiations of course but the Senior Partners were concerned about Rupert Murdoch muscling in on their territory so that might fall through.

'I was going to email but it seemed impersonal so I asked the Archduke to arrange an appropriate method of communication, I think he was going to send a Pylean head in a box. Certainly in keeping with the communiqué the slayers sent him' Lilah told him.

Hamilton nodded appreciatively. 'Nice touch' he admitted.

Lilah leaned back in her chair. 'We're a multi-dimensional corporation, why not think and act outside the box and take the fight to them where we're strong and _they're_ weak' she asked with a smile. 'Just think of it as opening a second front in the war' she suggested. 'Or if you want something to make the Partners happy point out that we can use Pylea as a springboard for future moves against the slayers here.'

'Yes?' Hamilton queried.

'It's _highly_ doubtful they'll use their threat of nuclear retaliation against a world they think of as under occupation if we use it as a base of operations against them' Lilah pointed out. 'Well Illyria might but the rest of them couldn't justify it' she told him.

'Clever' Hamilton conceded.

'The Senior Partners didn't bring me back from the dead because of my fabulous dress sense' Lilah told him.

* * *

_**Note from the Author:**_

_This Fanfic runs on reviews (they're more environmentally friendly than fossil fuels)_


	26. Chapter 26

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – October 2003**

'We have a terribly poor record with these occasions' Giles noted with disquiet looking around the lobby. The girls were all starting to arrive and several were helping to bring out trays of drinks and snacks.

'Everything will be fine' Buffy told him reassuringly.

'If you truly believe that to be the case why isn't that cutlass on your belt a prop and not a real one from the armoury?' Giles asked wryly.

Buffy looked down at her pirate costume. 'What's the point of hiring a wooden sword when you've already got a real one?' she asked reasonably. 'Anya would have had a fit at the unnecessary expenditure, it was difficult enough getting her to accept spending money on the party' she noted. She decided not to let Giles know that she _had_ in fact been practicing with the unfamiliar sword type for over an hour that morning, better safe than sorry. 'Halloween Punch?' she offered, indicating the nearby bowl.

'It's labelled as being "blood" and it's about the right colour' Giles replied disparagingly, shaking his head. 'I'll stick to the orange juice for now and possibly switch over to Scotch if we're not all dead by ten pm' he replied fatalistically.

'You agreed to come' Buffy pointed out. 'Don't be such a Grumpy Gus' she chided. 'Even Willow says she might teleport back from Cleveland later on but she won't stay long, they're having a little party of their own out there.'

Giles looked at her. 'As regards me "agreeing" to come I live here, making it very difficult to avoid it and besides which the twins _made_ me.'

'Ah that makes sense' Buffy considered, 'did they also choose the eighteenth-century nobleman's costume?' she asked. Despite being Halloween there were in fact _very_ few people dressed up as monsters or the like, too much like real life.

'No I just look good in tights' Giles responded deadpan. 'If you don't mind I'm going to find Wesley, or better yet Stirling too, so we can collectively mock this strange American holiday as a united front' he declared, then after bowing slightly he headed away with a swagger, one hand on the rapier on his own hip, also not a prop as it happened.

'Buffy, glad you made it I thought you might be late' a stranger said bounding over. Or _was_ it a stranger? The voice was _very_ familiar.

'Lorne?' Buffy asked the man in confusion. He looked… human.

'Glamour spell a la Willow' Lorne explained. 'Hey if the rest of you get to dress up so do I' he told her with a broad smile. 'So what do you think of my human costume?' he asked doing a twirl.

'First reaction… too weird' Buffy told him honestly.

'That's what Cordelia said' Lorne replied. 'I'd be in the running for best costume' he told her, 'if I didn't have to compete with the twins who have an unfair cuteness advantage that'll get them extra votes' he said in mock bitterness taking another drink from his glass of punch.

'Oh what have they come as?' Buffy asked.

Lorne pointed across the Lobby. Buffy looked and then grinned. 'You're right' she said, 'that_ is_ too cute for words' she agreed. 'Which one had to dye her hair blue?' she asked.

'They won't say' Lorne replied. 'I _think_ Jessica is the one in the labcoat and glasses' he told her, 'but until one of them sings, whistles or hums a tune I won't know for certain if it's Deborah in the Illyria costume.'

'You know the _real_ Fred and Illyria aren't going to be happy' Buffy told him.

'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery they say' Lorne replied.

Buffy shrugged. 'Yeah but people hate finding out other people at a costume party had the same idea' she said pointing across the lobby herself at two new arrivals.

Lorne looked over and found himself looking at Fred and Illyria who were looking at the twins in horror.

'They're not dressed up' Lorne said.

'Oh yes they are' Buffy replied chuckling. 'The one with blue hair _isn't_ Illyria' she told him. 'I ran into them earlier with Angel, he could smell which was which but if you watch carefully Fred can't quite get Illyria right although Illyria does a _great_ Fred, right down to the yammering. She even fooled Knox with the tech speak.'

Momentarily the centre of attention for everyone in the room, Illyria dressed as Fred and Fred dressed as Illyria faced Deborah dressed as Illyria and Jessica dressed as Fred. 'Aw crap' all four said simultaneously.

'Hey Xander' Buffy greeted her friend. 'So who are you suppose to be?'

'I _was_ going to be a pirate but you already snagged that one' Xander replied. 'And I've done it before anyway so I'm Number Two from the Austin Powers films' he told her tapping his eyepatch. 'It's a private joke that only a select few would get' he said. 'Lots of people owe Illyria their lives but I'm probably the only one that owes her my depth perception' Xander joked.

'Which you celebrate by covering one eye?' Buffy asked in confusion.

'Hey it's funny in my head' Xander protested.

'Anya not with you?' Buffy asked looking around.

'She's having trouble with her valkyrie costume' Xander told her, 'something about getting the details right, it's a Viking thing' he explained. 'She said she'll be down in ten minutes or so.'

Buffy's eyes locked onto something behind Xander and her jaw dropped. Xander turned to check and was rendered equally speechless. 'What the hell are you wearing?' Buffy asked Dawn.

'Cavegirl costume' Dawn replied. 'Isn't it obvious?' she asked. She even had a matching leather-strap necklace and bracelets of what looked like animal teeth and claws.

'If there was much less of it it'd be a fur and leather bikini' Buffy complained.

Xander nodded. 'An itsy bitsy, teeny weeny one' he agreed. 'You're not going to let her wear that are you?' he asked Buffy.

Dawn scowled. 'I'll wear whatever the hell I want' she told the pair of them hands on hips.

'Bloody Hell' Spike said aghast. 'You're not going to let the bit wear that are you?' he asked Buffy, walking over to them going through a low table with snacks laid out on it en-route.

'And _you_ can bugger off as well' Dawn told Spike forcefully doing her best imitation of his accent. 'And if we're criticising outfits you could have made more effort with the ghost costume' she told him snootily.

'_How_ exactly?' Spike asked sardonically. 'I can't even drape a bleeding sheet over myself.'

Buffy frowned. 'Well just don't go outside dressed like that you'll cause a traffic accident' she told Dawn.

'Has anyone seen my Dad?' Connor asked walking down the stairs turning towards Buffy. Dawn immediately came into view, his eyes widened, he stopped looking where he was going, promptly tripped over his own feet and fell over going head over heels as he rolled to the bottom of the stairs.

Several people ran to help, it was a very good thing that Connor was both agile and sturdy because he was already back on his feet turning bright red with embarrassment before anyone could get to him.

'Case in point' Xander stated. 'That not-quite-enough-material-to-be-really-called-a-costume is a _menace_' he told her seriously before he lost his grip and started laughing hysterically setting everyone else off, except an increasingly embarrassed Connor who was getting redder and redder and looking for somewhere to hide. There was also an impressive dent in the armour of his Roman Legionaries costume he wasn't going to get _that_ deposit back.

Dawn grimaced. 'I can't help but feel responsible somehow' she admitted.

You had to give it to Lorne he really knew how to lay on a party, once everyone arrived and the music kicked in the threatened Karaoke began the blame for which could be partially placed at the feet of Knox who had wired up the sound system and speakers. The former Wolfram and Hart employee had also set up a surprisingly good light show with lasers and holograms, apparently he was a major fan of Halloween and wanted to do his best to make it a great night.

Wesley, who was dressed as Clint Eastwood from a Sergio Leone Western, mainly because it gave him the opportunity to both carry a gun and not shave, groaned as Charles Gunn got up onto the stage accompanied by three slayers. 'I should never have made that bet' he said despondently.

'What bet?' Cordelia asked him. Her own costume was perhaps even more eye-catching than Dawns, although not many could honestly wear the outfit of a Pylean Princess. It had certainly caught Stirling unawares, himself also dressed as royalty, Henry VIII in fact, but everyone gave him major props for not looking down from her face once, a feat that Stephen, who had actually dressed as D'Artagnon, to the delight of many slayers, was unable to manage earning him a glare from Emily afterwards.

'The one that said he got to borrow my new Jag for the next week if he sang this' he told her.

Gunn started to move in time as the familiar music started. 'Who's the black private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks?' he sang.

'Shaft' the three slayers behind him chorused as the lobby erupted in cheering.

Angel moved around playing host, this was his place despite his people being incredibly outnumbered by Slayers and former Sunnydale types. It wasn't exactly his idea of a good time but sometimes you had to carry out onerous duties such as thank Andrew for all his efforts preparing the food and thereby incur his company for the next fifteen minutes until Nina finally saw fit to rescue him.

As well as snacks Andrew had prepared an impressive buffet spread in the dining room and the party-goers gravitated back and forth between the lobby and there. Buffy found Nina gathering a plate and joined her. 'Having fun?' she asked.

Nina smiled and nodded as she helped herself to some quiche. 'I've been trying to get Angel to get up sing but he won't' she replied.

'Oh dear God _no_' Cordelia said quickly and in horrified tones overhearing the conversation as she looked over a selection of voluvents. 'Never, _ever_, put that man in charge of a microphone' she warned.

'Oh he can't be that bad' Nina responded with a chuckle.

Cordelia looked the young woman in the eyes. 'I've seen Angel without a soul, his singing is more diabolical than that' she told her, 'and even worse he'll choose something from Barry Manilow trust me on this' she added seriously than shuddered as a shiver ran down her spine, the movement making the hanging jewels on her outfit rattle before she went back to deciding what to eat.

Buffy grinned. 'And if we know anything at all in our line of work it's that we know diabolical when we see or hear it' she told Nina tongue-in-cheek causing the other woman to giggle slightly. 'So Angel invited you?' Buffy asked her.

Nina smiled. 'Eventually' she replied. 'I think he got goaded into it, I don't think I've been asked to a party quite that clumsily since junior high.'

'For such an otherwise suave and sophisticated guy he can be… awkward at things like that' Buffy told her then took a breath. 'Angel and I aren't involved at all any more' she told her quietly. 'He's a just a good friend' she continued. 'I just thought I'd lay that out in the open.'

Nina looked around. 'Thanks for saying' she replied. 'I like him a lot.'

'And he wouldn't be that clumsy and awkward if he didn't like you too' Buffy told her, 'but you might need to take the lead because if you let him think too much about it, and believe me he will probably in a dark room, he'll _never_ make a move.'

Nina grinned. 'I'll assume the "take the lead" wasn't a werewolf reference and keep that in mind' she joked causing Buffy to laugh. It was strange to be talking together like this but despite wanting at some level to dislike her, as she had also wanted but failed to dislike Riley's wife, Buffy in fact rather liked Nina. She was a nice person and she had adjusted to her new life with surprising ease rather than fall into melancholia.

'If you're not getting food would you please get out of the way' Eve said sternly. Now there was a girl that _wasn't _adjusting too well to radically changed circumstances Buffy decided narrowing her eyes meaningfully at the petite woman before stepping aside to let her at the table. Eve hadn't even bothered to put on a costume, all she did was mope around and glare at anyone that tried to be nice to her. She had provided enough insider information to earn her keep, and ensure her ongoing protection from Wolfram and Hart, but she was rapidly becoming a misanthropic whiney bitch.

'Andrew says you're a great assistant' Buffy told her. 'We've decided to start paying you wages' she told her. It was a cruellest barbed complement the slayer could muster, the very idea that she was the assistant to that little nerd was an affront to Eve that very little else could match. How the mighty are fallen Buffy thought to herself in amusement, it was difficult to imagine there actually _could_ be further to fall than Andrews lackey.

'And an armed escort when I go out to spend my undoubtedly meagre and insulting salary?' Eve asked sarcastically. She was only safe here in the hotel, Wolfram and Hart didn't have the guts to try and take her out of here, the immediate result would be a large-scale counter-attack on their own building and nobody wanted all-out war, not yet at least.

'No to the armed escort, you can order things on-line to be delivered instead' Buffy replied, 'but your estimation of your pay is spot-on' she added trying not to smirk.

Eve muttered something unpleasant under her breath then helped herself to some food. Every day she hoped that Lindsey would come for her but she knew he couldn't afford to take the risk, the Senior Partners would, perhaps quite literally, eat him alive if they found him so he had to stay out of sight. It felt worse tonight than usual, everyone was so damn happy it was grating on her nerves, the realisation that they were probably partying just as hard, maybe harder over at the Wolfram and Hart building made it feel even worse. She felt incredibly alone and made a resolution to get blindingly drunk.

After the karaoke finished, mercifully Angel-free, the party switched to dancing at which point the disproportionately large number of people who chose costumes with swords were forced to disarm and the minority who could dance well proceeded to show off.

After Connor finally managed to get Dawn to stop embarrassing him through repeated apologies they found themselves dancing together, he was in fact much in demand but while Dawn might not superpowered she could dance most of the slayers into the ground and she knew it, she really moved well and enjoyed it.

Illyria watched Connors reactions, and in fact the infra-red radiating from him and inwardly smiled. The boys infatuation with the lesbian Kennedy had been obvious to her if nobody else, pity those humans with their derisory definition of what constituted the "visible spectrum" of light, and it was not only pointless it might also lead to problems with the witch Willow that was bad for both group dynamics and the mission. A relationship between the Half-Breeds son and the Slayers sister however would help to cement the alliance and was therefore to be encouraged. As expected the outfit that Illyria had suggested for Dawn was _exactly_ the sort of thing that would appeal to Connor and the jewellery of what were actually demon teeth and claws had bee assembled from the God-Kings own trophy collection with Dawn thinking that Illyria was reluctantly doing her a huge favour. The best way to manipulate people was to make them think they're the ones persuading you to help them do what you _want_ them to do.

If Angel couldn't sing it was equally true to say that Wesley couldn't dance, he was graceless and lacked rhythm or even an understanding of what constituted basic moves. Illyria decided she would have to train him because his attempts were almost embarrassing and she thought reflected badly on her in some fashion. Even worse was the fact that _Andrew_ of all people was notably better and that could not be tolerated the God-King decided.

A slightly inebriated Knox found himself dragged from the temporary bar laid out on the Reception Desk and was pressured into dancing by Amanda. Although treated with a definite wariness by most, Amanda had been joining in the Dungeons and Dragon's games that Knox and Andrew had started and found him to be okay, if you looked beyond the geekiness, his inherently evil choice of prior employer and his unusual religious inclinations.

Raised voices carrying in from the dining room as one record ended and before another began indicated that Stirling and Medousa were arguing again, now _there_ was a personality clash worthy of Greek Legend. The elderly watcher and the ancient guardian had been at each others throats since day one, with Stirling stating sincerely that he'd divorced the last woman that grated on his nerves so much and Medousa replying just as sincerely that she could still probably still find the turning men into stone spell somewhere in her collection of parchments if he provoked her any more. The thing that made it especially entertaining was that they both spoke so eloquently and started out so civilly before the fireworks kicked off between the "Vile Shadow Man" and the "Insufferable Gorgon Woman".

Just before eleven Gunn called the party to a halt and bought out a projector screen on which he played a surreptitious video recording of what Wesley considered a truly foul trick played on him that morning when Fred, with blue streaked hair and blue contact lenses had told him she was pregnant and that he was going to have to give up work to raise the child. If nothing else Wesley's jaw-dropping appalled reaction put the embarrassment Connor was still suffering from his fall down the stairs into perspective. It was only when Fred told him, her head cocked to the side in a classic Illyria pose, that she was looking at buying a nice fortress of doom in the country for their new family with its own dungeon and missile silo that Wesley realised he was the victim of a despicable prank as Fred broke down into laughter unable to continue.

As Lorne predicted the twins won best costume which caused Illyria to complain because she indisputably made a far better "Fred" than Jessica could manage and that even Fred's "flawed" version of herself was better than Deborahs. It was blatant age discrimination in Illyria's stridently held opinion and there "would be a reckoning" of indeterminate nature.

Buffy and Faith argued about who was the better dancer and everyone had the good sense to say their styles were too different to fairly compare, everyone except that is for Anya, with the former vengeance demon in the surprisingly fetching Norse Demi-Goddess outfit siding firmly with Faith, opining that Buffy didn't have her "slutty but aesthetically appealing moves". Anya couldn't really see why _both_ of them glared at her in response and she told Faith she wasn't going to give _her_ any support in future.

The mock duel, albeit with real swords, between Giles and Stephen over an unsubstantiated "matter of honour" bought everyone outside to watch for a while. One of the slayers loudly declared it must have something to do with Emily and asked if there was a video of her telling Stephen she was pregnant too nearly resulted in an instantly irate and distracted Stephen almost being accidentally run-through and the swordplay was called to a halt. The only actual injury was caused by an over-enthusiastic slap in Stephens face by Giles glove that began the proceedings and that was barely more than a red mark that was rapidly subsumed by the reddened cheeks the remark about Emily soon caused.

Dawn gave both watchers a stern lecture about where playing with swords could lead and suitably chastened everyone went back inside.

All things considered it was a terrific party in the opinion of nearly all concerned and it was a great pity that the entire thing ended up tainted in almost everyone's mind by the arrival of Lorne's Cousin Landokmar's head in a box via Federal Express the next morning.

The exception to the group that made in "almost" was Illyria because she had been wondering when she was going to get to invade, or as she instead tactfully chose to describe it to the others "liberate", another dimension. Hey it wasn't like they couldn't argue it was a perfectly legitimate intervention, Illyria pointed out. The former ruler of Pylea, indeed now that the world was under occupation the arguable "Government-in-Exile" of that world, and with some prompting from Illyria, formally requested military aid just before lunchtime.

Buffy made Cordelia promise to only retake the throne as an interim Constitutional Monarch before agreeing, then she telephoned Willow in Cleveland to see if she could put together a locator spell to try and locate the Groosalugg.

An ultimatum to leave Pylea or else arrived by courier on Lilah Morgans desk before she went home for the night but she didn't take it half as seriously as she really should have.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_This fanfic runs on reviews (I tried to get it to run on Solar as suggested in a previous review but it's just not that sunny here in the UK)_


	27. Chapter 27

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – November 2003**

Illyria looked around the conference table. 'It would be foolish in the extreme to give any credence to the notion that we could successfully achieve our long-term objectives by simply gathering together a hundred slayers loading them up with weapons and sending them to Pylea' she stated. 'Given the known involvement of the forces of Archduke Sebassis we could be easily looking at a situation where our forces would be up against an organised force comprising tens of thousands of hostiles and even with our overwhelming firepower advantage we would have to be wildly optimistic to think we would not incur a hefty toll in our own ranks in any kind of pitched battle.'

'We beat the Turok'Han' Faith pointed out. 'We were outnumbered pretty damn badly there too.'

'We fought a holding action, in a position that could not be easily flanked' Illyria replied evenly, 'and our eventual victory was achieved by the employment of the amulet _not_ by direct force of arms' she continued. 'The two situations are too dissimilar to be compared with much validity' the God-King contended with her usual air of utter certainty.

Wesley nodded in agreement. 'Sebassis own species seem to make up the officer class of his armies and they are not by any means stupid' he told the group. 'They are not going to simply herd a great unthinking mass of cannon-fodder into our gunsights so we can shoot them to pieces at our leisure. They've got numbers and they'll use them' he contended. 'As an individual one of our slayers, especially one trained and equipped with our best firearms, is a weapon of immense power who would take a heavy toll on any enemy force but one thing she _cannot_ do is be in two places at once' he noted. 'We're taking about an entire _world_ here' he reminded everyone. 'Even with higher mobility and inordinately better equipment we can't use a force as small as ours to conquer and secure it.'

'So what _do_ you suggest we do?' Buffy asked. 'And if it involves WMD it's a flat out _no_' she added quickly. It was all too easy to imagine Illyria in six months time saying something along the lines of "although the land is now admittedly sterile, and mildly radioactive, we _have_ been successful in ousting the enemy forces from the planet.".

Illyria meshed her fingers together and rested her hands on the table in front of her. 'Pylea would be far more use to us with its population and resources largely intact, in fact you _should_ consider making it a vassal state or protectorate in the long term' Illyria began, 'so I would _not _therefore in any way advocate the large scale deployment of Nuclear, Biological or Chemical weapons in this instance' she replied coolly. 'Instead the answer is to let the Pyleans _themselves_ take up the major burden of achieving their own liberation, with our own role being the provision mainly of logistical aid and training with only relatively small-scale, though hard-hitting, direct interventions with our own troops.'

Giles blinked. 'Are you actually suggesting we train and equip a Pylean rebel army?' he asked somewhat in surprise.

Illyria nodded. 'There were human rebels fighting against an oppressive demon government before and it is likely they would do so again especially if they were given the means to do so effectively' she said. 'Additionally many of the demon clans themselves would be far too proud in my estimation to tolerate either foreign rule or Sebassis puppet government so they could also be persuaded or pulled into a coalition of rebel groups under our patronage' she continued. 'We merely need to rally the factions around a symbol or perhaps symbols.'

Wesley grinned and picked up a glass of water holding it up in a mock toast directed at Cordelia. 'Gods save the Princess and may they bring victory to her loyal armies and her dream of a free and independent Pylea' he said dramatically and took a drink.

'It's just a pity they don't sing or we could write some good rousing rebel songs' Angel opined resulting in a few questioning glances his way. 'Irish' he said reminding everyone whilst pointing to himself.

'What about this Groosalugg guy Willow is trying to find?' Buffy asked. 'Wasn't he overthrown himself?'

Cordelia nodded. 'Yes which is why he came here, I don't think he was cut out for politics but if you wanted a real rebel leader archetype Groo would be your boy' she replied. 'He was a legend, an undefeated warrior…'

'He looked good in other peoples borrowed clothes..' Angel murmured quietly before Cordelia cut him of with a glare.

'Good looking, tall, hunky…' Cordelia continued with a wistful look starting to appear in her eyes, 'and thinking about it why the hell did I let him go anyway?' she asked rhetorically. 'Anyhow' she said snapping back to reality. 'Trust me, ideal poster-boy for the revolution, even the demon clans liked him… or maybe the guys ability to crack heads at least.'

'You know English here was a rebel leader over there for a while' Gunn piped up. 'Not sure I'd stick that face on a poster though' he continued. 'Well maybe a wanted poster what with the stubble.'

'Thanks for that and how are you enjoying my car?' Wesley asked wryly.

'Only driven it once, got stopped _twice_ by the LAPD' Gunn replied. 'Brother my age in a new convertible, hell I was just _looking_ for trouble' he added wryly. 'Great ride though I'll try not to burn off too much rubber from the tyres before I give it back.'

'Gunn made a good point though. Wesley really did lead the rebels to victory, well kinda at least' Fred told them.

'I was on Pylea a few days and I was a "rebel leader" for a few hours at best, not exactly the stuff legends are made of' Wesley replied with a smile.

'Depends on how you spin the story' Cordelia replied. 'Only in charge a few hours and you helped overthrow the government and freed the human population from slavery' she said. 'We should be able to get mileage out of that' she continued. 'I'll make you a General in my Armies' she offered magnanimously.

'Major-General would be nice' Wesley replied.

'Expecting to be the very model?' Giles asked in amusement.

'But of course' Wesley replied straight-faced, 'right up to date on military matters, always modern in outlook and full of useful information.'

'To reiterate Angels point earlier it is indeed a pity they don't sing' Giles said sadly. 'So much Gilbert and Sullivan they're missing out on.'

'Who?' Gunn asked provoking Illyria to chuckle for some reason.

'It's a nice idea but it's long on idea and short on specifics' Buffy declared. 'Have you got anything more concrete?' she asked Illyria.

'As part of my ongoing research into human military matters I would think that the tactics employed by several human guerrilla armies would be worthwhile and effective' Illyria replied. 'There is much that could be gleaned from the tactics of the Vietcong for example' she suggested. 'Given that we will equip our surrogate army with reasonably modern weapons they should be able to take a disproportionate toll on the occupying forces even if numbers start out small. Even a few dozen rebels with assault weapons could inflict hundreds of casualties in an engagement with an enemy that does not carry firearms.'

'Assault weapons?' Cordelia repeated. 'Pylea is like medieval at best, how do you expect them to use machineguns properly, let alone look after them?'

Illyria shrugged. 'Although we do not have personnel who are particularly skilled or experienced in warfare of this type we should not have trouble obtaining them and as for weaponry that should not be the issue you suppose either, it is simply a matter of having the financial resources and knowing what to purchase' she told them brightly. 'I doubt it will be more than a few weeks until we can begin preliminary moves against the forces of the Wolf, Ram and Hart on Pylea, certainly reconnaissance missions at the very least' she told them. 'Be aware though that this operation will _not_ be over quickly, it will require a long-term commitment over a period of perhaps years' she warned. 'One positive side to this however will be the opportunity to rotate teams of slayers to Pylea as part of their training regimen' she added in positive tone. 'A three month tour offworld before they rotate back to Earth and resume more conventional duties would lead in time to you having a large cadre of slayers who are experienced in a far more combat-intensive situation than they have tend to face during their normal slayer routines' Illyria continued. 'This may prove decisive in any full-scale engagements to follow at a later date as they would represent an iron core to shore up the ranks when needed. Such battlefield experience against demon armies would be invaluable to your forces, especially given that those who fought in Sunnydale are rapidly becoming a small minority. Knowing how to fight one of two vampires is little help in dealing with whole armies.'

'The question to my way of thinking B is whether we get involved in someone else's war or not?' Faith commented. 'I mean I like Lorne, and I'm not too keen of the idea of his people, and the humans there too getting shafted but is it really our job to look after them?'

'All that's required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing' Cordelia quoted. 'You said that before we activated the Potentials' she reminded Buffy. 'I know you've never been there but they're real people, well real people and demons and they weren't _bad_ demons for the most part' she said. 'We can help them and we should, they're only in this situation because Wolfram and Hart wanted to get back at us so we owe them to try. It's all our _fault_' she declared earnestly. 'We broke it, we fix it.'

'Ignoring the sentimentally of Cordelia's argument' Illyria interrupted, 'I would argue it is in you best interests to take retaliatory action in order than it does not become known to your enemies that they can get away with such actions without facing dire consequences' she argued. 'I realise that you prefer dialogue to open warfare but words only have meaning if they are backed up by the threat of less ephemeral action.'

Wesley rubbed the back of his neck. 'To paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt, "speak softly and carry a big scythe" would be a useful motto and if you want my opinion, it's time to start swinging' he advised.

Giles looked thoughtful. 'Intervening in another realm would certainly be a move that would cement the notion of the new Council as being more than merely a local rival of Wolfram and Hart but as instead an interdimensional Great Power' he told the group. 'Such a move could attract unwelcome attention from some quarters but conversely it would tell our enemies that we are not limited to merely global reach. The long arm of Slayer law as it were.'

'Power projection is the mark of a First Rate Military' Illyria stated. 'In this world the nations that are taken seriously are the ones that can enforce their will on others even if their enemies are thousands of miles distant' she argued. 'You should aspire to be feared and respected as such a power.'

'But is it better to be feared or loved?' Giles asked rhetorically with a knowing smile.

'Machiavelli thought ideally both, but if you _had_ to make a choice feared was better' Illyria responded, she liked _The Prince_ it was an excellent and refreshingly honest and dispassionate text on the realities of running a state.

Giles sighed. 'Unfortunately from there it's only a short jump to _oderint dum metuant_, "Let them hate us as long as they fear us".'

'I don't really see Buffy as another Caligula somehow though do you Rupert?' Wesley asked.

'No but if she says anything about appointing a horse to the Council I'm going home on the next flight' Giles replied with a smile.

Faith looked from one to the other. 'You know I follow what the gazillion year old demon chick over there is saying more than I follow what you two are saying half the time' she told the pair honestly.

'I thought it was just me' Gunn told her gratefully.

'We're wasted on this audience' Wesley told Giles sadly, the older watcher nodding forlornly in agreement.

'It's your call Buffy' Cordelia told the slayer.

Buffy looked to the ceiling, this was a big step, they'd been coasting really until now but was it the right time to take the plunge and start to stamp some slayer authority on the multiverse. Eventually she shrugged 'Viva la Revolución' she declared.

'I'll start making plans to start shipping guns across the interdimensional border then' Wesley responded. 'But I draw the line at dressing like Pancho Villa, I just can't pull off the Sombrero, it looks forced.'

Illyria raised a hand. 'The Mexican references reminds me' she said. 'I will need to borrow a slayer team and some equipment from the armoury for tonight.'

'Anything worth worrying about?' Buffy asked.

'Not especially' Illyria replied evenly.

**Catholic Church – East Los Angeles – November 2003**

'So this thing comes out every fifty years on the Day of the Dead?' Faith asked looking around the Church grounds. There was a service going on inside but it was deserted otherwise.

'Yes' Illyria replied. 'It comes out to feed on the hearts of heroes in order to gain their power, in the original timeline it tried to take the halfbreed Angels but it didn't go through with the extraction.'

'You mean it didn't rip his heart out?' Faith asked.

'Vampire hearts' Illyria replied in a dismissive tone, 'not even decent snack food' she told the slayer. 'Here we go' she said spotting a shape moving through the shadows and moving to intercept it. This had been the location of the demons first kill before, a woman who worked with gangs and as expected events were unfolding as before, with one slight difference. 'Tezcatcatl' her voice boomed across the churchyard. 'You seek the hearts of heroes' she said. 'Here is one for you to take' she declared and half turned holding out an arm to indicate Faith who grimaced slightly and started to step forward herself.

Faith stepped up alongside Illyria as the Aztec demon approached.

'Okay now this thing looks _serious_' Faith whispered to Illyria quietly.

'On their first encounter it engaged Angel, Wesley and Gunn in combat simultaneously and despite being hit by several shotgun blasts and having an axe embedded in its back it triumphed in the fight.'

Faiths eyes widened and she turned to Illyria. 'You left _that_ part out.'

'The omission was completely intentional on my part' Illyria replied honestly.

The Aztec demon bared its razor-sharp teeth and raised its sword in challenge, snarling at Faith.

'Don't see many demons in armour' Faith noted. 'Okay ugly' she said to the yellow skinned creature. 'Throw down the sword like a good boy and we'll make this quick and painless' she told it.

Tezcatcatl bought up it's sword and lunged at Faith swinging the weapon, it got approximately two yards before a storm of surprisingly quiet gunfire cut it off mid-attack, the rounds punching through its armour effortlessly and sending it staggering backwards, though it remained on its feet.

Two slayers borrowed from Vi's weapons team advanced from their hidden positions firing short bursts of fire from their shouldered G36K Carbines, silencers fitted to the barrels reducing the sound of the reports considerably. The high-velocity rifle rounds had no trouble ploughing through the demons armour and indeed by slowing and deforming them the armour actually made them more effective because otherwise at this range they would have simply gone right through.

'I'll give Tezzy boy here props for not going down too easy' Faith said as the demon somehow managed to stay standing despite being gradually filled full of holes.

'Like the vampire this demon cannot be killed by such conventional means' Illyria told her. 'You need to drive a piece of iron through its heart.'

'Iron not wood?' Faith asked.

'Wesley theorised that may have been due to the Aztecs not having iron themselves' Illyria replied. 'You would find it easier if it was immobilised.'

'Right good idea' Faith replied reaching into the pocket of her leather jacket and pulling out a taser pistol just as the two slayers finished emptying their magazines. The Aztec Demon was still snarling defiance but it didn't look half as intimidating after having sixty rounds of 5.56 millimetre put into it, a better description would be shaky, with a definite element of surprise it had found itself in this situation which sucked even worse than getting beaten senseless by those stupid wrestlers last time.

Faith aimed the Taser and pulled the trigger, two small metal darts shot out and embedded themselves in Tezcatcatls neck trailing thin wires behind them, the tiny injuries caused by the puncture wounds of the darts were completely swamped by the fifty-thousand volts that surged through them, the demon might not have dropped with the gunfire but it hit the ground immediately when its nervous system went totally haywire.

'Are you getting this on tape?' Illyria asked loudly.

Andrew advanced still filming with his video camera 'Sí Senorita Diablo' he replied getting the whole thing.

'Good' Illyria replied. 'After we finish make a copy and take it to the apartment I gave the address for earlier, get the Talisman from Numero Cinqo and bring it back to the Hyperion, the demon will rise again to look for it in another fifty years but it will be completely pointless' she declared looking down at the creature. 'Your Talisman will be hidden in my temple of Vahla ha'nesh which resides in a dimension that only I can access and I won't be giving it to you _ever_' she told it. 'I am as immortal as you and look forward to finding new ways and means of injuring you ever five decades from now until the end of time' she continued with a vicious smile. 'You will _never_ succeed in obtaining your goal you can look forward only to an eternity of periodic beatings, incineration and evisceration' Illyria stated imperiously. 'I hope to include vaporisation to that list in time' she added after a short pause, 'the humans should be able to develop effective and high-powered directed-energy weapons within a century or two' she told it giving a definite impression she was looking forward to wielding a laser cannon.

'Well that was just _cruel_' Faith told Illyria. 'Poor bastards got nothing to live for now' she added with a bit more sympathy in her voice than she actually felt.

Illyria smirked. 'Don't go for merely the kill when you can go for the psychological victory as well' she replied. 'You can kill it now' she told Faith brightly. 'The damage is done.'

Faith sighed. 'Don't know if I'll still be around in 2053' she told the Aztec Demon but in case I am remember that _she's_ the one that's screwing you over for eternity not me' she told it raising a short sword above Tezcatcatls chest before slamming it down through its heart.

'So' Illyria began. 'I know this great Mexican place that serves fantastic enchiladas right around the clock' she told everyone. 'I'll pay' she offered.

**Warehouse – Los Angeles – November 2003**

Emil poured two drinks offering one to Wesley who accepted. 'Cognac' he said appreciatively sipping the spirit.

'But of course' Emil replied. 'My homeland was a French Colony after all.'

'Côte d'Ivoire' Wesley noted. 'You were born in the capital Yamoussoukro to be precise' he added savouring the excellent drink.

Emil smiled. 'It's a pleasure to deal with professionals who bother to check such things' he told the Englishman.

'I don't doubt you know a great deal about my own background as well' Wesley suggested.

'Less than I would have hoped' the arms dealer admitted. 'Your past is extremely hidden in shadow, I would hazard a guess that you were involved with your countries intelligence services or possibly special forces judging by how little I could find out.'

Wesley smiled. 'Not so much Special Forces as _Very_ Special Forces' he replied cryptically. 'Shall we get down to business?' he asked.

'Of course' Emil replied. 'Pleasantries are all well and good but they do not pay the bills' he said. 'And how can I be of assistance today?'

The watcher reached inside his jacket causing Emil's two bodyguards to bristle and slide hands inside their own, taking hold of concealed pistols no doubt. Wesley's smile broadened as he withdrew a small notebook although he did reveal one of the twin .45 automatics he carried in shoulder holsters under each arm during the move. Wesley himself was unaccompanied although he had plenty of backup nearby if and when required.

Wesley flipped over the small notebook. 'It's a large order' he said. 'We won't expect it to arrive all at once, four or five equal shipments would be perfectly acceptable' he told Emil.

The arms dealer opened a notepad of his own and produced a very nice fountain pen from his pocket. 'Go on' he told his customer.

Wesley took a breath. 'We would like to purchase one thousand AK-47 Assault Rifles in good condition along with bayonets and six magazines per rifle' he began, 'plus one and a half million rounds of 7.62 millimetre ammunition for them' he said. 'In addition we require fifty RPG-7 Rocket Propelled Grenade Launchers with ten grenades apiece' he added before closing the notebook.

Emil started to laugh then stopped suddenly. 'You're serious?' he asked in surprise.

'Perfectly serious' Wesley told him flatly. 'How much and when might we expect the first shipment?' he asked.

The choice of the AK-47's to send to Pylea was really no choice at all Wesley thought to himself whilst Emil got to calculating. The people of Pylea both human and demon lived in a pre-industrial society, they had no idea how to properly maintain mechanical devices and needed weapons that were capable of taking severe abuse and neglect and would ideally be barely more complicated than a rock. Enter Mikhail Kalashnikov and by far the most produced assault rifle in history. You could let an AK get rusty and pour sand into the mechanism and if you were unlucky it _might_ stop working. It wasn't particularly accurate by modern standards but put up against an army equipped with melee weapons, and maybe some crossbows, it was an awesome instrument of destruction. It fired a powerful round with an effective range of over three-hundred yards held a thirty round magazine and if the shit really hit the fan just switch it over to fully-automatic hold on tight and pull the trigger. Wesley doubted there were too many demons that would survive that kind of abuse.

Add in the equally simple to use RPG-7's, another favourite of guerrillas and insurgents worldwide and you gave your rebels some heavy support if required, once again just point and shoot. Perfect for those oversized demons you might run into on occasion, if it's thirty feet tall put an anti-tank round into the thing, that was Wesley's philosophy.

Emil handed Wesley an estimated price which was within what he was prepared to pay and he simply nodded his assent. 'I can get the first two-hundred rifles to you by mid-December' the arms dealer told him.

'Excellent news I'll let my people know' Wesley told him extending his hand to shake on the deal. 'Also there was something else' he added. 'You said before you had some dealings with PMC's' he continued, 'by any chance do you know of any freelance mercenaries available for contract?' he asked. 'Training and advisory work mainly but we'd rather have people who've seen some action and who aren't… rigid in outlook.'

Emil pursed his lips. 'Buying large quantities of weapons and hiring mercenaries' he said. 'If you are planning on starting a small war somewhere it would be polite to let me know in advance so I can have people on the ground ready to cash in on the situation.'

Wesley chuckled. 'Not really within your horizons I'm afraid' he told him, 'but we may be making further purchases next year depending on how circumstances evolve.'

The arms dealer looked thoughtful. 'I do know of a couple of former Legionnaires that just split with their employer over a pay dispute regarding some work they did for a Private Military Company in Iraq' he said.

'Good men?' Wesley asked, 'by which I mean reliable I'm not expecting mercenaries to have a squeaky-clean "Holier-than-Thou attitude' he told him.

Emil smiled. 'They certainly made an impression on me when I first met them during a brief visit back to my home country last year' he replied. 'They were still with the Legion then, part of the French intervention forces that ended the fighting by shooting at anyone that tried to restart it. Cost me a fortune in sales but at least they were civilised enough to let me off with a warning when they caught me trying to smuggle arms to one of the factions' he explained. 'I say a warning, it was more of a mild beating, but nothing vindictive or excessive.'

Wesley blinked. 'They beat you up?' he asked in surprise.

'They were very apologetic about it. They were there to enforce a ceasefire, I was there selling arms, we were both just doing our jobs, no need to take it personally at all' Emil told him. 'I ran into them again a few months later after they'd decided to go into the private sector and we stayed in touch, I can put you in contact if you like?' he offered. 'There _will_ be a commission fee for that of course' he told Wesley flatly.

'Well of course' Wesley replied. 'This _is_ business after all' he agreed.

Emil smiled. 'Again you prove why you are such a valued customer' he told him. 'More Cognac?' he asked.

Wesley nodded. 'Thank you' he replied offering over his glass to be refilled. Well at least the Cyborg Ninjas that Illyria had warned them about hadn't shown up he thought with relief as the arms dealer poured him another measure.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_Despite research into alternative fuels this fanfic still runs on reviews. I have been experimenting with ethanol from corn but the hangovers are just terrible... :-p_


	28. Chapter 28

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT**

**Kenyard School for Girls – Los Angeles – November 2003**

The twins were already waiting outside when Emily walked out the schools main doors chatting to a couple of girls from her class. They had been going there a few weeks now and other than for Deborah getting hauled in front of the disciplinary committee for a flagrant breach of the dress code by coming into school with blue streaks in her hair things had been going better than expected. It had been very strange having to attend classes again but in some ways the return to relative normality had been good for her sisters Emily considered, much better to be complaining about homework than joining in conversations on whether there actually was a hygienic way to slay a glurg or not.

A flight of wide stone steps led down to the pavement and the road outside and parents and in some cases nannies and au-pairs were pulling up to collect their charges. Normally Giles would be here by now, he was punctual in the extreme, and it wasn't like him to be late without telling them in advance. He tried to be as good a surrogate father as he could, indeed on the previous Wednesday night, he had arranged a little celebration for them and along with the rest of the British contingent, and some curious colonials, they had found somewhere to set up a bonfire and launch some fireworks to celebrate Guy Fawkes night like they would have back in England. He could be really quite sweet sometimes even if he was occasionally clearly out of his depth in dealing with the twins.

Emily checked her watch, she hoped it wasn't something serious. Deborah however was rooting for an apocalypse of some description that would give her an excuse not to come to school tomorrow and thereby save her from having to finish her geography assignment but her hopes were dashed when a black sports car pulled up.

Stephen turned in the drivers seat and waved, he was wondering when it would occur to Wesley he hadn't actually specified to the teenager which car he should take when the young watcher told him he had to borrow one to pick up the girls from school. Giles was caught up in some urgent research into portal incantations and had asked Stephen to collect them instead and he had taken the opportunity to try out the shiny convertible than Gunn had been raving about.

Wesley would probably shoot him, though only in a non vital area, if he damaged the Jaguar XKR in any way but in Stephens mind it was worth both the risk and of course the inevitable bollocking when he got back. Gunn was right this thing was an absolute dream to drive. 'Giles asked me to pick you up' Stephen called out as Emily waved back and the twins dashed over.

'Is that your brother?' one of Emily's classmates asked hearing his accent.

'No that's my boyfriend' Emily replied happily. It was terribly shallow she realised but now everyone at school would not only know she had an older boyfriend but they'd think he had a sports car too.

Stephen got out to walk around and opened the door for Emily as she trotted down the steps to meet him, the twins had just jumped in the back, and were hoping they could get him to take them to the mall before going back home. He went to kiss her hello on the cheek but she turned so that they kissed on the lips instead which wasn't exactly unpleasant so he went along with it.

'This is Stephen my boyfriend' Emily introduced him. 'Stephen this is Joanna and Peta from my class' she told him.

'Ladies' Stephen responded with a slight bow, he might as well play along, Americans seemed to expect this sort of formality when they heard his accent and he was getting the distinct idea Emily wanted him to make a good impression on her new friends. Anything that might get him back in her good books and to stop mentioning his visit to Madame Dorions was a big plus as far as he was concerned, his life was complicated enough anyway without having a stroppy girlfriend.

'Nice car' Joanna told him. Emily gave him a look which he understood to mean "don't say it's not yours".

Stephen nodded. 'It's a decent enough little runabout and I do think you should buy British if you _are_ British' he replied carefully, he was willing to obfuscate but not outright lie. 'Shall we be off?' he asked Emily who climbed in and he closed the door behind her. 'Nice to have met you both' he told the two girls before walking back around and getting into the drivers seat.

The XKR pulled away nice and sharpish with a hefty roar, Stephen gunning the engine a bit more than was strictly necessary.

After a brief sojourn to the mall Emily was nice enough to help him clean the thing when they arrived back to find a rather peeved Wesley Wyndham-Pryce waiting for them with a sponge, a bucket of soapy water, some car wax and a few choice words about taking his new car without _express_ permission.

Deborah offered to help clean the car too but was told to do her geography assignment instead. Her protest that she would have been better off if she stole a car fell on deaf ears as did her request for help from Jessica who had finished the assignment the night before.

'I miss being hunted by Bringers' Deborah declared dejectedly as she spread her books across one of the dining room tables and finally did her homework.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – November 2003**

Illyria stomped across the lobby, she was clearly livid and everyone was staring mouths agape, though not at her as it happened. 'It was a reconnaissance mission' the God-King stated angrily. 'I _expressly_ told you to remain outside while I checked if it was still too soon to pre-empt the demons plan before it came to fruition, and to only come if I called for assistance, but you ignored me and _this_ was the result' she said. 'I hope you are happy, perhaps in future you will heed my instructions.'

'If you'd given me more information I wouldn't _be_ in this mess' Faith replied to Illyria even more angrily. 'Why the fuck can't you just give us the whole story instead of keeping stuff back all the time?'

'It's for the best' Illyria told her.

'Bullshit' Faith retorted. 'There is no way _this_ kinda crap happening is for the best'

Buffy was sat in the office reading a report Kennedy had sent in from Cleveland. There were three teams over there now, nine slayers keeping a lid on the Hellmouth and the demons in line, so far Kennedy was doing very well and Buffy was more than happy with her. The raised voices in the Lobby caused her to look up just before the door opened.

Illyria stepped into the office followed by Faith. 'Where is Willow?' Illyria asked.

Buffy's jaw dropped.

'Don't say a fucking word B' Faith told her. 'I mean it' she said with all the sincerity and menace she could muster, although at that precise moment menace was difficult to pull off.

The Chief Slayer stared, closed her eyes, opened them again for another look then pinched herself just in case, nope not dreaming. Eventually she gathered her wits. 'You're a puppet' she told Faith. 'You're a little puppet girl' she continued with an expression somewhere between shock and overwhelming amusement.

'You want to keep that shit in check here B' Puppet Faith told her. 'I am _so_ not in the mood' she warned.

Buffy managed to teat his gaze away from the seething mass of felt and fury. 'It's magic right?' she asked Illyria, unable to stop herself breaking out into a grin.

Illyria nodded. 'Yes. It happened before though in the original timeline Angel was the one who was so… transformed' she told her.

'Angel?' Buffy repeated with a chuckle. 'Angel was a cute little puppet too' she asked in amazement.

'Not for long' Illyria replied. 'Though I recall from the shells memories it caused much hilarity amongst those who saw him in such a state' she added. 'Angel himself found the situation less than amusing however.'

'Bet you're ass _he_ didn't find it funny' Faith interrupted. 'And what do you mean _cute_?' she asked Buffy clenching a tiny soft fist in a manner that was still far, very far, from intimidating. It was like having Elmo challenge you to a knife fight.

Buffy looked Faith over. 'Well you are' she replied. 'What with the little leather jacket, and the long hair and everything' she told her. 'We need a camera' she said then yelled out into the Lobby someone get a camera quick' she ordered. 'And get everyone down here to see this.'

'Don't you fucking _dare_' Faith told her darkly.

'Calm down and get a grip on yourself Faith' Buffy told her trying not to laugh, 'I bet your stuffing pressure is through the roof, you might burst a blood vessel… I mean bust a stitch' she deadpanned.

'Okay that's it' Faith said with a snarl and launched herself over the desk at Buffy swinging tiny superpowered felt fists.

Illyria let them grapple for a while, Buffy laughing as much as she was fighting back, then the God-King hauled them apart and dragged them out into the Lobby just as it started to fill with people.

'Kill me' Faith implored. 'Kill me now' she begged looking at everyone's expression. She'd never be able to live down this kind of humiliation, nobody would take her seriously again, her badass attitude and demeanour was a central part of her character. Even the tortured soul seeking redemption shtick needed the mean crazy bitch persona to work properly, without it she was like another Buffy sidekick for fucks sake Faith thought despondently.

'Do not be foolish' Illyria told her. 'You will be back to your normal self within a few days at most' she told her. 'We merely need to return to the Television Studio tomorrow morning and slay the demonically possessed puppets that did this to you' she stated. 'I would have done so myself when I first saw you in this condition but they were not all there and if I only eliminated some of them the others may have gone to ground' she explained holding Faith by the scruff of the neck at arms length, her tiny legs hanging down nowhere near the floor.

'If you take that picture I'll take that camera off you and shove it up your ass' Faith told Dawn seriously, the younger of the Summers sisters having just arrived holding a Digital SLR she'd grabbed from the storeroom after one of the slayers yelled at her to fetch one.

'Is that really Faith?' Dawn asked Illyria who nodded. Dawn thought about it. 'It's worth the risk' she said and started snapping away.

'For the love of God somebody set me on fire' Faith begged putting her tiny hands together as if in prayer.

'No you don't and you'd better not think about smoking either until we check your label to see if you're certified as flame retardant' Buffy responded then collapsed into laughter setting off the entire room.

'You're a dead woman B' Faith yelled at her. 'A dead woman' she vowed.

Eventually both the throng and Faith herself calmed down and Buffy gathered the people she thought would deal with the situation most maturely in the conference room. That meant a very short list of Giles, Wesley, Angel plus Illyria to tell the tale, Faith and herself. Xander had nearly laughed himself to an early grave when he saw Faith which had set off Willow so she was now useless. Spike found himself speechless, it was wisecrack overload, he couldn't cope with all the great lines that occurred to him simultaneously so he just stood there trying to decide which was the best.

'Anybody so much as sniggers' Faith told the group. 'And I'll start opening up major blood vessels' she told them crossing her arms. Another thing that really grated was that they had to pile up cushions on the chair so she was remotely near eye level with anyone else.

'You can't do that Faith' Wesley replied deadpan. 'We'd have to take you to the laundrette to get the blood washed out' he remarked biting back laughter.

'Imagine how soft, warm and cuddly she'd be after twenty minutes in a tumble drier though' Buffy considered. 'Maybe we could try some pine fragrance?'

Puppet Faith growled, it was less than intimidating.

Giles made a coughing sound. He took off his glasses and started to clean them with a small cloth, it was easier to avoid looking at Faith that way which also made it easier to keep from cracking up. 'If I can get everyone to act like professionals for a while' he began. 'Perhaps Illyria can fill us in on the details?' he suggested.

'It's a bit fucking late for that' Faith complained bitterly. 'She's long with the superiority complex but short on the need-to-know information' she declared.

Illyria ignored the mystically diminished and increasingly whiny slayer and addressed the group. 'As with the original timeline it appears that subsequent to a Faustian bargain designed to increase ratings for his children's television show the producer Gregor Framkin became a puppet himself for demonically possessed stuffed marionettes' she told them. 'They use the broadcast to drain life-force from the children who watch it, and in time this drain will be sufficient to result in many being hospitalised. The children's life force is of great worth in some quarters and hence extremely valuable.'

Illyria handed around still images of the characters from the show she had printed off the net along with their names.

'And they turned Faith into a puppet?' Angel asked looking at a picture of a Muppet Show reject apparently named Polo.

Illyria nodded. 'Through the same method they did to you in the original timeline I would surmise' she replied causing Angel to grimace. 'If anything I believe you were cuter' she added, 'Faith's continued use of foul language diminishes from her charm.'

'And you were planning to knock some heads together before the kids got hurt?' Buffy asked.

'That was my intention' Illyria replied. 'However this is an earlier point in history than we originally dealt with them so I needed to make sure of the situation first before doing so' she explained. 'Given her utility in aiding me dealing with Tezcatcatl I decided to bring Faith along as backup but told her to remain in the car unless I requested her to come in' she continued. 'As you can evidentially see, Faith was less than obedient and decided to do some reconnaissance of her own with the result you observe before you.'

Faith slammed her fist down on the table with an extremely muffled thud. 'If you'd said "stay outside or you might be turned into an extra from Sesame Street" I might have done what I was told' she yelled at Illyria.

'I doubt you would have believed me, even by mystical standards the situation is outlandish in the extreme' Illyria replied evenly. 'In any case Willow has already determined she cannot reverse the spell so the solution is, as before, to eliminate the entities concerned.'

'How?' Buffy asked.

'No special methods were needed' Illyria replied. 'Though in order to defeat the leader Angel did have to turn into his puppet vampire form' she continued, 'and before anyone asks yes that was adorable too, or at least Fred believed so, my own aesthetic sense finds the look less appealing' she told them. 'Though on another level I cannot help but find the notion as hysterical as the rest of you' she said with a distinct smirk. 'I will try and render drawings later from my memories of both Angel puppet forms as per Spikes request.'

'Or maybe you _won't_' Angel told her.

Illyria looked back at him. 'I find your attempts at intimidation almost as worthy of mirth as the puppets' she replied. 'Simply be grateful that neither I, nor the shell, are as talented at drawing as yourself' she advised.

'Why the hell couldn't it have been _you_ this happened to?' Faith complained pointing one of the three fingers on her right hand at Illyria.

'I play with the universe' Illyria replied. 'I do _not_ let the universe play with _me_' she answered imperiously.

'I dunno I've seen plush Cthulhu toys, I reckon plush Illyria's would sell' Buffy interjected.

Illyria narrowed her eyes. 'If I ever see any for sale you can expect to hear from my lawyers' she told the slayer.

Faith tilted her head, such as it was, towards the ceiling. 'So I'm stuck like this until tomorrow morning when we can kick some demon puppet ass?' she asked.

'Yes' Illyria answered. 'There is also a spell ritual to perform which Willow says she will handle while the puppets are dealt with' she continued. 'The spell will return any lifeforce that has already been stolen to the children concerned.'

Faith nodded. 'I'll see you in the morning then' she told them jumping off the chair and hitting the floor with a whump. 'I'm going to say goodnight to Dana and then see if I can get drunk by soaking my head in a bowl of Jack Daniels' she declared.

Buffy frowned. 'Might be better to skip that tonight' she replied. 'The Dana thing I mean, I'm dying to find out if the whiskey thing works' she told her.

'Every other asshole in the building has already seen me' Faith replied. 'At least Dana will just think she's seeing things again and ignore it' she reasoned heading out of the door.

Later that night when Faith _finally_ managed to get away from Dana, after being cuddled for the best part of three hours until the girl fell asleep, Faith decided she might start taking advice after all. For one thing the moment Faith turned to leave after wishing her goodnight and Dana's hand shot out to grab her, the other slayer had yanked her back so hard into a smothering embrace Faith was worried her stitches had come loose.

And the damn bowl of Jack Daniels she soaked up later didn't work either dammit.

**Television Studio – Los Angeles – November 2003**

The puppets were singing.

'_In our secret backyard _

_we can make your day more fun and less hard _

_no more frowning, let's get learning _

_ABC's and 123's _

_everything from words to weather_

_we'll discover them together_

_Time to strap your thinking cap on thinking things are going to happen..._

_Every day's a new beginning all your friends are here and grinning _

'_cause it's smile time_

_That's right ! You're on smile time.'_

'No it ain't' a voice from the back of the studio interrupted loudly. 'I'll _tell_ you what time it damn well is' it continued.

Polo turned away from the camera to face the small figure that was walking towards them before turning back to he others 'Okay' he said. 'which one of you short-bus bastards turned a slayer into a puppet?' he asked. 'Not that it matters' what are _you_ going to do about it bitch?' he asked Faith.

Puppet Faith held up the gleaming silver and red chrome weapon in her tiny hands and started to sing herself.

'_Time to get down and kiss your asses goodbye_

_I'm sending you back down to hell to fry_

'_cause it's Scythe Time_

_That's right! It's Scythe Time_'

'It would be better for her self esteem if we let her handle them alone' Illyria told Buffy who was stood next to her watching the unfolding scene from the edge of the sound stage.

'I'll go along with that' Buffy replied watching Faith swing her Scythe cleaving a large puppet with a horn for a nose clean in two. 'It looks therapeutic.'

'She will still be a puppet for a while after this' Illyria told her. 'The magic takes a while to wear off.'

'Think we could get Faith her own kids TV show' Buffy asked as the puppet slayer jumped over a tiny wooden fence and pounced on a puppet girl who was howling for mercy.

'I do not think she would make a good role model for the young' Illyria replied. 'Although even with the foul mouth and borderline psychotic behaviour I doubt she would be so universally feared hated and reviled as Barney.'

Buffy nodded in agreement. 'Think he's a demon too?' she asked.

'Might be wise to scythe him just in case' Illyria considered as Faith tore another demonically possessed puppet to shreds on live television in front of tens of thousands of small children.

'So is this the weirdest thing that we can expect to happen?' Buffy asked hopefully.

Illyria pursed her lips. 'There was a very strange thing that happened to you in early 2005 but I won't spoil the surprise' she told her.

The Slayer looked at the God-King askance. 'You know I think Faith made a valid point about the restricted need-to-know information' she observed.

Illyria shrugged as Faith started smashing a puppets head repeatedly against the side of a blue doghouse. 'You may think so but in my estimation things have been going pretty well so far' she replied cheerfully.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_Following protests from Greenpeace my plan to power this Fic with a cut-price Fission Reactor from an ex-Soviet Nuclear Sub have been dropped and consequently it still runs on Reviews. Test boreholes for Geothermal power are underway, I'll keep you posted on how that works out._


	29. Chapter 29

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – November 2003**

'Douglas Ashton, Canadian born, turned freelance in February 2003' Wesley read from his notebook, 'prior to that five years with the Legion and before that served with the Canadian Army' he continued. 'The other one is Janko Perković, again went mercenary at the start of this year after five years with the Legion, previously with the Croatian Army' he told them.

Faith looked through the glass door of the office at the two extremely bemused looking men who were stood just inside the lobby standing at parade rest, hands behind their back observing the throughput of people, mainly young girls wandering in and out, they didn't seem to be objecting to strongly to the view however. When they'd arrived they had both assumed they were in completely the wrong place and had asked Anya who was manning the reception desk directions to the _other_ Hyperion Hotel. 'Which is the short one?' Faith asked turning back to Wesley.

Wesley smirked. 'The "short" one is Ashton' he answered, 'and for the record he is in fact taller than Xander I'd say.'

'You're kidding' Faith responded in surprise looking at the pair again. The other one towered over the Canuck.

'No I'm not' Wesley told her. 'Perković is about six foot seven. The puzzling thing to me when I met him yesterday was how nobody had ever shot him because he can't exactly be the least conspicuous target on the battlefield.'

'Shit' Faith said. 'At least the dudes always got the high ground.'

Buffy ran her hands through her hair. 'And you say they're alright?' she asked. The idea of hiring these kinds of people wasn't exactly where she thought she'd be a year ago.

'They seemed alright to me' Wesley replied. 'To be honest Stirling did most of the talking, he had a much better idea what to ask and besides which they had this paratrooper bonding thing going on which I felt terribly excluded from' he told the slayer. Wesley and the elder watcher had interviewed the two mercenaries at a neutral location, a restaurant in fact, the day before and deciding they passed muster had told them to come to the Hyperion the next morning.

'Paratrooper thing?' Faith asked.

'_Deuxìeme régiment étranger de parchutistes_' Wesley quoted from his notebook. '2nd Regiment, Foreign Legion Paratroopers' he translated. 'They abbreviate it to 2nd REP which saves a lot of syllables' he continued with a smile. 'Once Stirling let slip he was a former Para himself they got on like a house on fire, and at certain points of the conversation ended up talking about urban warfare and the best ways to set houses on fire as I recall.'

'So they're good?' Buffy asked, 'not too good I mean because we need bad I suppose' she corrected herself, 'but not _too_ bad?' she explained, though not very well.

'2nd REP has a fearsome reputation, some of the toughest and most highly trained infantry soldiers in the world by all accounts' Wesley replied. 'They've seen a fair amount of action between them and they didn't come across as psychotic or particularly closed minded, the Croat was a touch reserved, which I thought could be his English which isn't perfect, but it seems he's just quiet' he told them. 'Speaks three languages as well as his own, fluent French and German and passable English, Ashton speaks French too of course, mother was from Quebec which is probably why he decided to join the Legion oh and after a few drinks they both swear in the most polyglot manner imaginable. I could barely pick up half of the profanity.'

'Polyglot?' Faith queried.

'Multiple languages' Wesley answered. 'I imagine that would be inevitable after five years in the Foreign Legion.'

'Are we sure we need them?' Faith asked. 'Lets face it they're not far from being fucking hired killers' she stated.

'Interestingly when I said something of the sort Ashton responded along the lines that _Assassins_ kill people, Mercenaries only fight wars, for the latter killing people is just part of the process not actually the end in itself' Wesley noted. 'In any case we do lack their kind of expertise and having some actual military types on the ground in Pylea will drastically improve our position there. If nothing else they're demolitions trained they can blow stuff up for us which is always fun.'

'You're spending too much time with Illyria' Buffy told him. 'Tell the truth; you lay awake at night whispering sweet tales of mayhem and destruction in each others ears.'

'Way I heard it she's usually killing him with sex' Faith interjected.

'A little of Column A, a little of Column B' Wesley replied. 'In any case you wanted to meet them so they're here.'

Buffy nodded. 'Think they'll handle having a woman in charge?' she asked.

'They're mercenaries' Wesley replied. 'Don't expect obsequiousness, you're just the person that signs the cheques' he noted. 'Though I would suggest we're careful with that part, they quit a job in Iraq because the PMC they were with screwed them on wages' he told the slayer. 'People getting shot at for money take the latter very seriously and they're not the kind to seek redress in the courts if you see what I mean.'

'Putting the money thing on the back burner so how do we handle the whole breaking them into our world thing?' Faith asked, 'because they'll freak.'

'I thought simply throwing them in at the deep end would work best in the long run' Wesley replied. 'We introduce them to some demons, friendlies at first then perhaps some nasty ones, maybe get a thirteen year old girl to beat them up to show them what a slayer can do, maybe some choice magic demonstrations from Willow and if they still think they're sane put them on the payroll' he suggested. 'Illyria offered to let one break a baseball bat over her head if they wanted some hands-on evidence, something about it working for Fred's parents apparently' he added with a shrug.

'Boy are we about to fuck-up their existence' Faith noted, 'poor bastards, worst part of my day is thirty seconds after I wake up when I realise what I do for a living' she continued. 'Ignorance is bliss' she opined.

'Well they clearly wanted a life of travel and adventure or they'd have taken a different career path' Wesley responded.

Buffy sighed. 'Yeah but there's _other peoples_ idea of travel and adventure, and then there's _our_ idea of travel and adventure.'

'Girls got a point' Faith agreed, 'we put the weird in weird shit.'

'Look at it this way' Wesley replied. 'Worse case scenario, quick mindwipe and send them on their merry way to the next warzone' he said brightly.

'I think he just wants someone to drink beer with and talk guns to' Faith said to Buffy.

'Either that or he's setting up a basketball team' Buffy replied looking at the pair. 'I feel really short' she said. 'Six feet _seven_?' she said. 'That's like a foot taller than me.'

'Only if a foot's 16 inches long where you come from' Faith responded with a smirk. 'Face it B' Faith replied, 'You _are_ short.'

'Says the girl who was a three foot tall puppet last week' Buffy replied.

'I got better didn't I?' Faith replied sharply, 'and you wouldn't believe how pissed off Dana was when I came into her room all normal and humany.'

'Not worth cuddling any more?' Buffy asked with a chuckle.

'Not my scene anyway' Faith replied flatly. In reality she _had_ ended up giving the young slayer a hug because she was upset and there was something about Dana that made Faith really want to look after her, but she wasn't going to tell Buffy that. Faith was big on personal space and made sure everyone knew about it. That was one thing she liked about the Brits like Wesley, they didn't go in for unnecessary physical contact.

'Okay bring them in' Buffy ordered, 'and Faith'

'Yeah?' Faith asked

'Don't talk back to me, or try to score points in front of the hired help' Buffy ordered.

'Okay but don't embarrass me and the girls in front of the mercs okay' Faith replied. 'I don't want them getting the idea we're _all_ as girly as you.'

Buffy raised an eyebrow. 'If you're a _real_ badass you don't have to look or sound it' she retorted.

'Just make an effort' Faith asked. 'It's bad enough our best shot's out there wearing a fluffy woolly hat' she said with a distinct wince as she spotted Vi in the lobby.

Wesley rolled his eyes, hoped for the best and went to call the pair in.

**Warehouse District – Cleveland – November 2003**

The flash of light in the centre of the room heralded Willow's arrival as ever and also ensured Kennedy would spend the next few seconds blinking. She was going to have to either wear shades or else remember to close her eyes when her girlfriend dropped in. Not that this was a social call.

'Express delivery from Los Angeles' Willow began, 'one brand new slayer scythe straight from testing and still tingling from it's final enchantment' she said holding the weapon out towards Kennedy who immediately reached out to take it. You'll have to sign for it' Willow added. 'Anya insists' she told the slayer holding out a pen and a piece of paper in her other hand.

Kennedy laughed. 'Only the one copy?' she asked.

Willow grinned. 'It's two sheets with a carbon copy between them' she answered, 'one for your own files.'

'Our _own_ files?' Kennedy repeated, 'we've got a drawer full of bits of paper, will that do?' she asked.

'I guess it'll have to' Willow responded. 'I'd give you a kiss and a hug but I'm scared I'd accidentally cut you in half' she said. 'This thing is sharp as a razor even after Amanda tested it' she continued holding the scythe at arms length.

'How did she test it?' Kennedy asked suspiciously.

'She slammed it into a granite block as hard as she could and drove the blade in at least five inches' Willow answered then frowned thinking about it. 'We really should have worked out how we were going to get it back out again afterwards _before_ we did that though' she admitted. 'We ended up having to break the block up with a hammer and chisel, it was stuck in tight and wouldn't come back out again even with three slayers hauling on it. We asked Illyria to help but she told us to get lost, I think she said something about the scythes making her flesh crawl.'

At least she got to use the time constructively while they tried to get the scythe back out of the stone Willow thought to herself, making that really tall mercenary guy levitate had been pretty funny, if not necessarily for _him_.

Kennedy looked at Willow and then with concern at her new scythe. 'But it's okay right?' she asked, 'because if Amanda bent, scratched, scuffed or dented my baby I'll kick her ass' she vowed.

'I thought_ I_ was your baby' Willow replied feigning upset.

'I'd kick her ass for scratching, scuffing or denting _you_ too' Kennedy responded.

'But she _could_ bend me?' Willow asked wryly.

Kennedy snorted. 'Well who the hell wants you _straight_?' she asked tongue-in-cheek and darted in for a kiss keeping away from the scythe, the damn things really were dangerous, especially the new ones. Supposedly Faith had cut a Katana in half edge on edge with hers during a fight with some demon monks from Japan. The demon was so surprised it froze dead in its tracks mid fight and stared at the remains of his sword giving Faith the opportunity to slice _him_ in half too. Well that was how Faith told the story when she'd phoned up Kennedy and the Cleveland girls to tell them, everyone at the Hyperion was already sick of the tale.

Eventually they broke their embrace and Kennedy took the scythe. She felt the rush of power that it caused to flow through her body and breathed out slowly. 'Damn I forgot what this felt like' she said happily before laying it gently down on the table by the television.

'Where are the others?' Willow asked looking around. With eight other slayers living here at the Cleveland base, not to mention Robin Wood, she was surprised to find the loft otherwise deserted.

'They're all off either patrolling or going to see a movie' Kennedy replied. 'Except for Shannon, she's got a date with the college student that delivers our pizza' she told her. 'I don't know if she's after his body or a discount' she added. 'He's pretty hot, for a guy I mean, but the Pizza's damn good too and we order in a lot.'

Willow laughed then smiled seductively. 'So we've got the place to ourselves?'

'Best thing about being in charge of them' Kennedy replied. 'I can send them away whenever I like.'

'So want to order in? Not pizza obviously, we'll see how the discount thing goes first' Willow asked.

'Chinese?' Kennedy suggested. 'If we order now it'll get here in twenty minutes.'

'But what would we do in the meantime?' Willow asked sliding up to her.

'Well I was going to check the scythe for signs of damage and…' Kennedy began then held up her hands in response at the switch in Willows expression. 'I kid, I kid please don't turn me into a frog' she joked. 'I don't want to have to be kissed by a Prince, handsome or otherwise.'

'Cordelia's a Pylean _Princess_, would that do?' Willow asked wryly.

'I've already got my princess' Kennedy replied and kissed her again.

'You still need to sign for the scythe' Willow told her as they started to move towards the couch. Anya would nag like crazy if she didn't teleport back with the signed receipt.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – November 2003**

Ashton was sitting on a chair in the dining round staring into space occasionally rubbing his arm where he'd landed awkwardly after being thrown bodily through the air by a cute little blond girl with pigtails, the normally taciturn Perković was holding the crucifix he wore around his neck and muttering to himself in Serbo-Croat. All things considered it had in fact gone much better than expected, although having Spike walk through them had almost been one shock too far, Angel vamping out and Illyria bending the laws of spacetime right in front of their eyes had already pushed them close to the edge.

The Canadian Mercenary opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it, closed it again, rubbed his arm some more, blinked looked across the table at the chick with the blue hair and skin again then took a deep breath turning to the blond sat next to her. 'Vampires, witches, warlocks, ghosts and all that shit are real, you've been fighting them with an army of superpowered teenage girls and you want _us_ to go to another _dimension_ to train rebels to fight a demon army' Ashton said slowly.

'Right' Buffy told him with a nod. 'We realise it might take some getting used to' she told him reasonably. 'You know you're taking it pretty well considering' she told him.

'No shit' Ashton replied then turned to his comrade. 'We didn't take any of that anti-nerve-gas crap did we?' he asked.

The tall Croatian shook his head in response and said something to Ashton in French.

'Well I guess your grandmother _wasn't _full of shit with the old stories' Ashton replied in English. 'I'd think I was drunk but it would hurt less and I'd feel happy not like I was going fucking nuts' he observed to nobody in particular.

'You will adjust' Illyria told them. 'If you don't we will erase your memories and let you be about your way' she added.

'Erase our _memories_?' Ashton asked his eyes widening further if that were possible.

'A painless, non-invasive procedure accomplished by magical means' Illyria replied, 'though even if it did hurt you wouldn't recall the pain afterwards in any case' she continued. 'You are skilled warriors who fight for financial remuneration and we have money with which to employ you' she said. 'The only difference from your usual life is the nature of the opponent and the location, if not the environment, of the battlefield' she told them. 'The enemy is as close to your concept of evil as you can envision, and although physically far more than your equals they lack both the means and skills to cope with both the nature and effectiveness of the weaponry developed in the industrialised warfare of this world. As long as you do not take undue risks you will both survive to obtain your reward' she promised.

'I kinda enjoy the work' Faith told them, 'you get job satisfaction, and it ain't ever dull' she continued, 'well it didn't used to be but lately the paperwork is starting to suck' she added with a sigh.

Buffy threw Faith a disparaging look then turned back to the mercenaries. 'You still get to shoot at things and blow stuff up but what you're shooting at just won't look like you, or bleed the same colour, or it might explode into dust when you put a stake in its heart but that just makes clearing up afterwards much easier' she told them. 'We fight demons all the time, we just don't know much about fighting a full-scale war and we figure you guys can help out with that.'

'Hey if it helps we've got loads of girls, good opportunity to get laid' Faith noted.

'Jesus _Christ_ Faith' Buffy exclaimed.

Faith smirked. 'You've got to pitch the sale at the buyer B' she responded.

'That is _not_ included in the deal' Buffy told them quickly. 'Just so you know.'

'From the one's I've seen so far too young for me anyway' Ashton replied evenly, 'and I wouldn't want to get a girl too excited if she could break my back if she's enjoying it too much.'

'That happened a lot in the past' Faith asked. At least the guy was getting some spark back.

'Lost a lot more blood in scratches on my back than from shrapnel' Ashton replied with a short lived grin. 'Son-of-a-bitch' he muttered to himself looking at the ceiling. 'Just when you think you've got a handle on things' he said sadly.

'You want us to fight demons' Perković said suddenly releasing his grip on his crucifix. 'Some of you are demons, why?' he asked in heavily accented English.

'Being a demon doesn't make you automatically bad' Buffy replied. 'You met Lorne earlier' now _that_ had been a meeting she thought to herself, 'and he's a great guy, nicer than ninety percent of the humans I've ever met' she told him. 'Now vampires are different, unless you put their soul back they're pure evil which is why we've always made an extra effort in dealing with them, but with demons you have to take them one at a time, clan by clan' she continued. 'The ones we're starting to come up against now are the worst of the worst, the kind we never really had the muscle or resources to deal with before, but now we do we're really putting the squeeze on them and it's starting to hurt, we know that because they're trying to squeeze back' she said, 'we need your help to make sure that we're the ones with the tighter grip.'

'We've got the demons by the balls here' Wesley interjected running with Buffy's metaphor, 'we're branching out, getting ready to take the fight to other worlds, to let the bastards know that if they fuck with us _anywhere_ then they'd better be prepared to have us fuck with them too' he said then grinned. 'Oh come on' he said, 'you'll love it, you get to machinegun monsters, it's fun' he declared.

'Doesn't suck' Buffy agreed.

'We'll give you some time alone to think about it' Wesley told them.

'Don't try to sneak out though' Faith advised. 'You wouldn't get very far and unarmed you wouldn't stand a chance' she told them honestly.

Illyria crossed her arms. 'Armed your chances would be negligible also' she added before standing up.

'If you do stay we're having steak for dinner tonight' Buffy told the mercenaries, 'you eat it rare right?' she asked figuring they'd be the bloodthirsty type.

Ashton and Perković looked at each other then at Buffy. 'Is there a bar here too?' the Canadian asked. 'I think we need to think about it over some Scotch because sober you might not get the answer you want' he told her the Croatian nodding in heartfelt agreement.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_The drilling process for the geothermal power generation scheme continues slowly due to a strata of unusually hard rock and consequently this Fic continues to run on reviews._

_On another slightly more serious issue I got an email from someone asking if I objected at all to anybody else writing Fic's within the "Compelled Fanfic 'Verse" and, while I was pretty surprised at the question, if anyone else **does **want to play in my playground please feel free to do so, with the proviso of preferably not killing off main characters, or mucking about too much with my canon... if you wanted to give Wesley a cannon that would be okay though :-p_

_Finally if you have any questions, ideas or just want to tell me what's right or wrong with the Compelled Series please drop into the forum (link on my profile)._


	30. Chapter 30

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER THIRTY**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – November 2003**

Cordelia looked up from the magazine she was reading, she didn't usually go see historical epics but she was going to have to go see Colin Farrell in Alexander when it opened, that guy was hot she decided tearing her eyes off the photograph. 'Good Afternoon' she greeted the stranger, 'how can we help you?' she asked with a professional and as always extremely becoming smile. Unusually the lobby was deserted, everyone was either training, working or busy having fun or there would be the usual curious slayers milling about looking the potential customer over and making them feel uncomfortable. They might be overrun with Buffy's horde but this was _still_ Angel Investigations and they still had clients dropping in occasionally.

'Good Afternoon Miss' the man asked in an educated British accent. 'You can help me by telling my son I'm here to see him' he answered.

'Your son?' Cordelia queried.

'Wesley Wyndham-Pryce' the man answered. 'I am Roger Wyndham-Pryce' he told her, 'and I am here on a personal matter of some urgency so I would appreciate you notifying him of my presence immediately.'

Cordelia looked surprised. 'Well it's very nice to meet you at last' she said. 'Wesley has told us… so little about you' she told the man while slowly and surreptitiously reaching under the desk to press a small button.

Roger Wyndham-Pryce picked up Cordelia's telephone and made as if to offer it to her. 'Well young lady are you going to call him or not?' he asked officiously.

Cordelia directed her gaze upwards to the balcony and smirked. 'Not right away there's another matter to sort out first' she told him.

'Hands in the air' a girls voice bellowed from above. Roger Wyndham-Pryce span and looked where it was coming from and found himself facing three teenage girls who were pointing assault rifles at him. The slim red-haired one dramatically pulled back the cocking lever chambering a round. 'Back three steps up from the reception desk and get those hands up like I said or I _will_ use lethal force' she ordered looking through the gunsight.

'What in the world?' Roger Wyndham-Pryce asked turning back towards Cordelia who had herself pulled a handgun from one of the desk drawers and was pointing it at him too.

'Wesley's dad is in London running the Watcher Offices there' Cordelia told him. 'We've been expecting _you_ to turn up though' she continued, 'and we know you aren't bullet proof so do like the girl with the machinegun says before we put you down' she told the man seriously. 'We've got a couple of people that are going to _love _taking you apart cyborg boy' she told him smugly. 'Like the glamour too, very effective, but I've seen plenty of magic before' she added with a distinctly amused tone of voice.

Faith ran into the lobby racking a small pistol-grip pump-action shotgun which she pointed at the man. 'Pager went off' she said, the emergency button under the desk would warn everyone on duty there was trouble in the lobby 'Who's this asshole?' she asked.

'Say's he's Wesley's dad' Cordelia replied with a grin.

'No shit' Faith replied appraising him more carefully. 'I guess his mom was the one with looks' she added.

'Keep out of the line of fire Faith' the redhead up on the balcony called out.

'Will do Vi' Faith called back. 'If this prick makes a run for it take out his kneecaps, we'll be wanting him alive, Illyria said they never did find out where these guys came from.'

'Yes Ma'am' Vi replied lowering her aim. The G-36K had an integrated telescopic sight and at this range the trajectory would be so flat she wouldn't even have to make much effort to aim. Her natural talent at marksmanship had been enhanced by plenty of on-the-job training since Sunnydale and she was a truly first-rate shot. Rika the South African girl stood to her right was perhaps even better with a rifle but not so good with a pistol Vi was happy to say.

'There seems to be a case of mistake identity' the man declared. 'I don't know who you think I am but I _am_ Wesley's father' he told them stepping back from the desk nervously. 'Is Rupert Giles about?' he asked. 'Or the Travers boy he knows me.'

'From what I heard even _Wes_ couldn't tell the difference' Faith retorted, 'which means you've got somebody working some decent mojo behind the scenes but it's no fucking match for us already knowing you were going to be turning up.'

More girls started to appear with an assortment of different weapons, swords, crossbows, guns and Molly appeared holding one of the scythes.

'Stand clear please' a male voice declared causing a group of slayers to clear out of the way.

'Wesley?' the man asked in shock as his scruffy appearance.

'Father' Wesley replied wryly, 'So let's see what you look like without the glamour shall we, I've been preparing for this situation' he said raising a hand and muttering some words in Latin. A small green flame formed in his palm and coalesced into a sphere of energy. 'Dispel' he said and fired the ball of magical energy at the man.

The sphere hit and did nothing whatsoever other than cause him to flinch in response. 'What the hell do you think you're doing boy?' he bellowed.

Wesley grimaced. 'Oh bugger' he said. 'Could everyone please stop pointing weaponry at my father please?' he requested quickly.

'So…' Faith said, '_not _a robot then?' she asked lowering her shotgun.

Wesley looked at his increasingly livid father. 'You know you really _should_ have phoned ahead' he told him apologetically. 'Is Mum alright?' he asked with concern.

**Brecksville Reservation - Cleveland – November 2003**

'Come back here you fucking wimp' Kennedy screamed chasing the insectoid demon up the rocky streambed that snaked through the forest. It was too damn cold to be splashing through the water at this time of year but she was damned if she was going to let the thing get away and besides which what was the point of having a shiny new scythe if you weren't going to get to dismember something with it?

A natural side-effect of the slayer purge of Cleveland's demonic population had been the migration of a good number of them to the ring of parks and nature reserves that surrounded the city as they tried to avoid getting themselves hacked to pieces by over-enthusiastic and hyped up teenage girls. It had certainly reduced the number of unexplained human disappearances in town but conversely some days it was tricky to actually find something worth slaying, and in the days since Willow had dropped off the scythe, Kennedy had been desperate to get some use out of the thing.

The sound of more splashing following her some yards behind told Kennedy her team had finished off the other one and the pair were now in hot pursuit in case she needed backup. With nine slayers in town they worked as three teams each of three girls, the old notion of the slayer fighting alone, one girl throughout the world, was passé this was a team sport now and they were getting damn good at it, developing team tactics and procedures to deal with the new slayer paradigm. 'It's mine' Kennedy yelled. It may be a team sport but the individual player still liked to be the one to put the score on the board.

Damn thing was quick but it wasn't _slayer_ quick Kennedy thought with a feral grin as she finally caught up with the demon and swung the scythe at it, slicing off one of its four legs. _That_ got the things attention and it both screeched and turned to attack the slayer who jumped backwards to avoid being impaled by a serrated mandible before cleaving the thing off with another swing of the scythe.

More screeching around her caused Kennedy to look left and right as four more demons appeared from the trees, 'Should have expected a hive' she said gritting her teeth and getting ready for things to get messy.

Shots rang out from behind as the other two slayers caught up, they'd seen what was happening, drew their automatics and were firing on the run into the demons that had just appeared. It was daylight which meant they couldn't be carrying around rifles or shotguns in public, or even in the forest in case they ran into a park ranger or something, but they always carried their Glock 31's and a few rounds of .357 SIG ammunition could get the attention of most anything. The high-velocity pistol rounds cracked the hard exoskeletons of the demons and smashed their way through causing thick green blood to spew out.

With the initiative back in her hands Kennedy dashed forwards and neatly decapitated the demon she had been chasing sending more of the green goo-like blood spraying through the air as the demon fell sideways, it's head falling the other way. It's other five limbs continued to scrabble, some of these insect types had secondary nerve clusters elsewhere in their bodies that controlled some motor function, but with it's brain disconnected the movement was aimless reflex.

Kennedy threw herself at the next nearest demon just as her teammates arrived, enchanted short-swords in one hand and pistols in the other howling primeval battlecrys that would not have disgraced the First Slayer herself. The scythe wrought unbelievable damage as Kennedy swung it around in a manner that would have won praise from a Viking warrior as bullets flew and swords slashed and stabbed around her.

The stream ran green with demon blood as the slayers fought against their foe, swords parrying against chitin armour and the sharp crack of pistols echoed in the forest as supersonic lead ploughed through demonic flesh.

This was what it was to be truly alive, Kennedy thought to herself slipping into what was practically a battle-frenzy as she eviscerated the next demon. The other slayers kept clear, she wasn't being too careful with the way she was swinging the scythe around and while they weren't demons it could just as easily take off one of their limbs by accident too.

The tiny stream began to run green with demon blood as the creatures perished one by one before the slayer onslaught. Insect-like limbs were strewn around, some still twitched despite being separated from their bodies, it would have been a nightmare for anyone frightened of bugs but to the girls they were just another bunch of damn demons to slay. After they'd finished these off they scout around for a nest o see if their were any young, solve the problem once and for all with fire, maybe use one of the incendiary grenades they carried in the small backpacks they wore.

The final demon fell to the ground with another screech as it's two front legs were hewn off, she raised the scythe again and split its skull in two, that got the job done and it stopped making the noise.

Breathing heavily Kennedy turned to her compatriots, all three of them splattered with thick emerald blood. 'Told you it was worth hiking out here' she said.

'Not my idea of a nature ramble boss' one of the girls replied with a grin, 'and it's freezing, my boots are full of water' she complained tongue-in-cheek.

'We'll find somewhere we can warm up with some soup once we hide these bodies' Kennedy replied, her breathing starting to settle as the adrenaline of the chase and the fight began to wear off. 'If either of you get pneumonia Buffy would kick my ass' she added.

'How's the scythe?' the other asked.

'Sweet' Kennedy replied happily holding it up. 'Now I've broken it in I might let you borrow it sometimes' she offered generously.

'You know you're not as bad to work for as they were saying back in LA before I got sent here' the girl replied enthusiastic at the idea of getting to use the scythe.

'Who said I was bad to work for?' Kennedy asked in a hurt tone and with a distinct pout on her face. 'I'm all sweetness and light' she protested as green blood continued to drip from the gore encrusted weapon in her hands.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – November 2003**

'Stop blathering boy' Roger Wyndham-Pryce snapped at his son. 'Unlikely though it seems I'm not interested in tales of cybernetic ninjas that look and sound like me' he declared. 'I didn't fly all five thousand miles to have you heap obsequious apologies on me for being very nearly shot by gun-toting teenage girls' he told him.

Wesley cringed. He could face the hellspawn forces of darkness with a defiant smirk and a gun in each hand, he could summon dark magic, nonchalantly throw grenades into a crowded room and torture someone for information but for some reason he just couldn't make himself comfortable in his fathers presence. 'Is your tea alright?' he asked.

'Tolerable' his father replied, 'and I'm not here for petty small talk either' he added putting down the china cup onto its saucer. They were up in the conference room for privacy which meant Wesley was actually sat directly across the large wooden table which made the situation seem even more disturbing, like a diabolic job interview.

'Well then?' Wesley asked.

Roger Wyndham-Pryce fixed his son with an icy stare. 'Rumours have been circling among the Watcher fraternity back in London that you have become the…' he said pausing to think of the correct word, '…toyboy, of the demoness Illyria.'

'Ah' Wesley replied.

'What do you mean "Ah" Wesley' the elder Wyndham-Pryce asked curtly. 'Is this true?' he demanded to know.

'Ermm I wouldn't necessarily have phrased it that way myself' Wesley replied. 'But basically yes' he told his father unable to make eye contact.

Roger Wyndham-Pryce slammed his right hand down onto the heavy table with a hefty boom. 'Yes?' he repeated. 'You mean to say that you have allowed yourself to become the… sexual plaything… of an inhuman monster? Have you gone completely barking mad or is this deviancy merely another facet of the ridiculous persona you seem to have developed for yourself?' he asked. 'Grow up, get a shave and a proper haircut and if you are going to insist on letting your libido run away with you at least find yourself a _human_ woman' he thundered. 'The shame you continue to heap upon our family is barely comprehensible, you've made me a laughing stock.'

Wesley felt himself blushing, he was completely flustered and lost for words. It was frankly ridiculous that the old man could still have this effect but there it was.

'Well speak up for yourself boy or has the vile harpy stripped you of the power of speech as well as your dignity and self respect?' the older man asked. 'I should never have permitted you to take the job working for the vampire Angelus even if it was the only thing that was likely to actually offer you a position, proximity to evil has clearly warped your morality to the extent that you would countenance a relationship with anything no matter how morally repugnant and physically repulsive.'

Wesley blinked, he raised his head and looked his father square in the eyes. 'I love Illyria and I will _not_ permit you to talk about her in that manner' he said coldly.

The older man sniffed. 'You think you _love_ the creature?' he said. 'Are you really that far gone boy?' he asked rhetorically.

Wesley took a deep breath. 'You can belittle me as much as you want but I will not sit here and listen to you talk about the woman I love in that fashion' he stated emotionlessly. 'If you were not my father I would have punched you on the nose the second you referred to her as an "inhuman monster" and I will warn you right now that there is a point at which your being my father will not prevent me doing so any more.'

'My God boy you've gone completely mad' Roger Wyndham-Pryce declared in shock, his son had never talked back to him, let alone threatened physical violence. 'Or has the bitch cast some form of mystical enchantment upon…'

Wesley's clenched fist hitting the table cut his father off mid-sentence. 'I was being perfectly serious when I said that there was a point that you could reach that would result in me striking something other than this table and if you refer to Illyria as a "bitch" again father you may well discover it' he told him angrily. 'You do _not_ want to provoke me' he said seriously 'you have no conception of just how dangerous I really am or what I am capable of' he told him astonished by his own words. It was as if someone else was talking and he was just an observer, the strange thing was on any other conceivable issue or subject this couldn't have been happening in a million years but the fact was he really did love Illyria with all his heart and that overrode any other feelings or insecurities. 'And I will have you know that while you sit there and belittle her she is off scouting another world in preparation for us to take the war against darkness beyond Earth itself.'

Now it was the elder Wyndham-Pryce that was rendered practically speechless. 'What's come over you Wesley?' he asked quietly.

'I'm not sure father but do you know, I think it might actually be a modicum of self-respect and perhaps even a smidgen of the belief in honest-to-goodness self-worth' Wesley retorted with a mildly sarcastic edge to his voice. 'And there I was thinking you'd successfully stamped that out' he continued, 'how ironic, I suppose that makes _you_ the failure for once' he told him with a sneer. 'Now if you'll excuse me I've got to go help save the world again, enjoy your tea' he said pushing back his chair and standing up.

'Young man you will sit back down right this instant' his father roared.

Wesley laughed. 'I'm sorry' he said. 'You appear to think I still take you seriously' he continued before walking out the door leaving his father sitting there stunned into silence.

When the adrenaline wore off Wesley went to his room, continued onto his bathroom and promptly threw up in the toilet.

**Bach-nal Platform – Pylea – November 2003 (Earth Date)**

'The Crebbil swings night and day to eliminate the rebel cow scum from this land' Narwek told the Commander of the occupation forces enthusiastically. 'They had become uppity since the false Princess butchered the old ways and led us to ruin but they will soon become compliant once more' he declared.

The Demon officer nodded, he had commanded one of the Legions of the Archduke for over fifteen years and this was his most important and career enhancing missions yet. The occupation and pacification of an entire world, it was fortunate that so many like Narwek had desired a return to the old ways, by turning the demon clans against the former human slaves they had made the seizure of this place far easier. Divide and conquer with the added legitimacy of a puppet government led by a man who had once been merely a Constable in the local police force.

'The ritual is properly blessed and sanctioned' the priest declared, his face partially hidden by the cowl he wore. That was another thing that had been reversed with the new order, the Priests of the Wolf, Ram and Hart were once again in the ascendancy and encouraged the populace to accept the presence of foreign occupation. There were still dissenters of course, many of the Deathwok Clan still openly criticised the collaborationist authorities despite several being made an example of, and the human residents of Pylea were in open revolt given that they were now once again declared chattels and occasionally a source of food. Their rebellion was however even worse off than it had been before the days of the Princess Cordelia given that the Archdukes forces were far more numerous, ruthless and well armed than the old Pylean forces had been in the old days.

'This cow has little meat upon it' the guardsman declared dragging the captured human towards the block forcing it to its knees head laid out for the honoured headsman to swing the Crebbil. Another five of the cow-scum were in the sturdy iron cage next to the platform but this one had the audacity to try and escape when the door was opened and had therefore earned its place as first to be put on the block.

'There are plenty more, it will be another great feast tonight my friends' Narwek said loudly to cheers from the audience, some genuine but many simply trying to sound like they were loyal to the new government.. It was true that the reintroduction of the ceremony was popular in several quarters and not only was it entertainment it was also a source of food to those that had not eaten cow meat in a long time. Cleverly perhaps, the old standbys of totalitarian government designed to placate the citizenry, bread and circuses, were combined in one unitary act.

The cheering reached a crescendo as the headsman raised the ceremonial axe, the blade catching the light of the sun as it moved into twilight. Many hundreds had already been ended by the Crebbils swing since Sebassis had sent his armies to Pylea and it would continue to fall until all resistance was crushed.

The headsman bought the axe down smoothly against the cows slender neck having pulled its long hair out of the way.

The Crebbil shattered into fragments, the cheering stopped, everything was a deathly silence as the cow got back up with a smile on its face. 'I was just going to return home after I scouted this world' she said, 'but I just couldn't resist it' she declared in apparent amusement.

Narwek looked on in horror as the cow morphed in form and costume into a blue haired apparition clad in what looked like red leather armour. The creature then placed one foot on the flabbergasted and unmoving headsman's own to hold him in place, put a hand under his chin and ripped his head clean off his body with apparently little effort, throwing it aside dismissively as the rest of his body slumped onto the platform, blood spurting everywhere.

The blue-haired demon became a blur of speed which streaked towards the iron cage where the other cow-scum were imprisoned, themselves as shocked into silence as the crowd. The blur snapped back into focus between the two native Pylean guards that stood by the cage door, the creature grabbed them both and simply took hold of them and smashed their heads together hard enough to dent their helmets before letting them slump into unconsciousness.

Seizing the cage door the demon ripped it off its hinges and threw it away behind her. 'You are free, head for the shelter of the rough country to the north' she told them. 'Spread the word to your people, do not despair, help is coming' she continued. 'Now run' she ordered.

'Who, _what_, are you are you?' one of the humans asked in bewilderment.

The blue tinged demon turned to the officials. 'Inquiring minds wish to know' she said wryly.

'It's Illyria' the commander of the occupation forces said in dismay.

'Who?' Narwek asked half turning to the officer.

'The Old One that has made itself protector of the human cows of Earth' the commander replied, 'the sworn enemy of the Wolf, Ram and Hart' he continued.

'God-King of the Primordium, Shaper of things' Illyria interrupted in her most imperious tones walking towards them, as the humans fled unimpeded as fast as they could for the safety of the forest, her glacial eyes semed to twinkle even more as her expression changed and she grinned at Narwek. 'The Master of Disaster' she added with a slight chuckle.

Illyria strode towards Narwek completely ignoring both his iron helmeted guards and the Commanders own demonic legionary troops that were intermixed with the dumbfounded crowd. None raised a hand or a weapon to impede her, this was no mere ordinary foe, _this_ was power incarnate.

Coming face to face with the quisling the God-King cocked her head to the side. 'It was foolish of you to align yourself with my enemy' she told him. 'The Wolf, Ram and Hart are as nothing compared to the forces I and my own allies can bring to bare, you would be wise to heed my warning here and break faith with them before you compel me to break something of yours, your limbs perhaps.'

'You cannot conquer this world alone God-King' the Commander stated. 'You are strong and fast but far from invincible and only one being.'

Illyria turned to the demon, he was of the same clan as Sebassis himself with long thin horns that angled back from the top of his head. 'Keep telling yourself that' she told him 'but remember I can portal here any time I wish and rip _your_ head off too' she added with a vicious smile before turning back to Narwek. 'Witness the fear in your masters eyes and know that I am death and will bring destruction in my wake, I am but a portent of the chaos to come' she warned, 'warfare and weaponry of a epic scale and awesome power you cannot _begin_ to imagine' she told him.

'The Wolf, Ram and Hart are all powerful' a nearby priest declared piously.

Illyria tilted back her head and roared with laughter. 'In the past they were once so insignificant I did not bother to crush them' she replied. 'Their destiny in the future is to be relegated to a level where I would not even _notice_ them' she told the Priest. 'The apparent earnestness of your faith is perhaps commendable at some level but your choice of religion is misguided to the point of being comedic' she continued. 'Incidentally if you are ever offered a drink known as Kool-Aid it would be advisable not to quaff it.'

The God-King turned to the crowd, she had made the impression she wanted and scouted the area as well as she could aided by the shells detailed memories of the terrain. 'Thank you, you've been a wonderful audience' she told them, 'I'm here for all eternity, _don't_ try the cow' she warned them before raising a hand and opening a portal regretting not even one of them knew how funny she was as she stepped through it.

The Commander watched the portal close behind her. 'Definitely could have done without that shit' the demon noted sadly.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_Pending ongoing investigations into alternative power sources this Fanfic runs on reviews (two more chapters to go, best ensure it doesn't run out of fuel during the last lap) :-p_

_If you have any ideas/questions/queries/suggestions visit the Compelled Forum (link on my profile)_


	31. Chapter 31

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – December 2003**

'Well I still don't think Illyria should have hit him' Cordelia argued walking beside her as the slayer made her way through the hotel.

Buffy winced trying to imagine what that had felt like. 'She did say he was being uncooperative and wouldn't follow her through the portal' she replied. 'Knowing Illyria she weighed up the options. And she was in a hurry, she wanted to get to get back to Pylea and take those reconnaissance photographs.'

'Knowing Illyria knocking them out is _always_ at the top of the list' Cordelia replied with a sigh.

'No that would be _killing_ them' Buffy replied evenly. 'In any case he'll be fine… when he wakes up… you _did_ say he was tough' she pointed out.

'There's tough and then there's being slugged by a God' Cordelia retorted. 'For that matter Groo is going to be pretty curious how Fred managed to punch him out.'

'I'll leave the explaining to you' Buffy told her. 'Just make sure to highlight the fact his homeworld is in trouble and we need him' she continued. 'For the record you were right about him looking good on a poster, even lying unconscious on a bed, we'll just photoshop out the bruised face' she added.

Cordelia continued to follow Buffy towards the dining room, one of the merc boys was supposed to be giving some kind of lecture on ambush tactics, they'd been giving some of the girls a crash course in soldiering and guerrilla warfare, and Buffy was interested in seeing how they were getting on. The other one, the really tall Croat guy was with another group, including Vi, out at a range somewhere teaching sniper tactics. The girls with him could already shoot but apparently there was more to it than just that, what that actually _was_ neither Buffy nor Cordelia had a clue about.

Buffy pushed open the door and found two rows of slayers sitting in chairs, eighteen girls in all, facing Ashton the Canadian merc who was standing in front of them explaining something to do with overlapping fields of fire.

The former Legionnaire half turned noting Buffy's entrance then snapped his head back forward towards the girls. 'On your feet' he snapped loudly. 'A soldier gets up when an officer enters the room' he told them loudly.

The girls jumped up and snapped to attention, some more sloppily than others but they all moved pretty quick in response to Ashton's order. It was probably the tone that did it, Buffy thought, he'd obviously yelled at a _lot_ of people in the past.

'Sit down' Buffy told them, 'I mean "at ease" or whatever' she added.

'As you were' Ashton told the girls, who sat back down. 'To what do we owe this honour Slayer-Chef?' he asked pronouncing his version of her title with a French accent as he would his own former rank in the Legion, Caporal-Chef.

'Just wanted to see how you were getting on?' Buffy replied.

Ashton nodded. 'Although physically the best troops I have ever encountered they have much to learn' he replied. 'If I had six months I could give you the finest heavy-infantry that have ever walked the Earth' he continued. 'As it is you will have to be satisfied with the finest that has ever walked Pylea' he told her.

Buffy smiled. 'That's good to hear' she told him. 'Not the material you are used to dealing with?'

'Not like the hairy-assed Legionnaires I trained with before Slayer-Chef' Ashton agreed, 'but I'm giving them the right attitude' he continued, turning to the girls 'What makes the grass grow?' he bellowed.

'Blood, blood, blood' the slayers chorused back loudly.

The mercenary half smiled, pleased with the response. Buffy however raised her eyebrows, that wasn't exactly what she'd had in mind.

Ashton noted her reaction. 'If you're going to war you don't need slayers' he told her. 'You need soldiers' he continued, 'and more than that, for what they'll be doing you need cold-blooded _killers_' he said. 'Ambush and guerrilla war isn't always that far from murder, I could sugar-coat it for you but it is. We will try and kill the enemy without them even knowing we were ever there until the bullets start tearing through flesh, we'll sneak up on them and stab them in the back, plant mines and make them too scared to come out at night' the mercenary said. 'If we do it right every single girl here will get home alive and none of the enemy will ever see home again.'

Buffy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. 'I want everyone home in one piece' she said. 'Do whatever it takes to make that happen' she ordered.

Ashton nodded. 'Oui Slayer-Chef' he responded snapping his boots together.

Buffy pursed her lips, and leaned towards him whispering quietly 'And see if you can get _them_ to call me that too' she told him indicating the girls. 'It's a lot better than Ma'am' she added.

'You have to tell me to carry on' Ashton whispered back. 'Formality' he explained.

'Carry on' Buffy told the mercenary loudly.

'Thank you Slayer-Chef' Ashton responded. 'Now as I was saying' he said resuming talking to the girls, 'completely surrounding the enemy in an ambush might _seem_ a good idea but you have to remember that means you'll possibly have some of your own troops shooting towards you from the other side of the ambush, and getting shot by your own people isn't just as painful as getting shot by the enemy, it's fucking embarrassing too' he noted. 'Anyone that calls it "friendly fire" has never had some of it go past their ear, anything that'll ventilate your brains is pretty fucking hostile as far as I'm concerned' he declared. 'The same goes for mines and booby traps' he continued, 'they call it "minimum safe distance" for a reason, don't be in a position any closer than that when they go off because getting your balls, or your tits' he added remembering the nature of his audience, 'blown off like that by your own explosives means you're a retard' he advised. 'And the letter they write home to your parents will tell them you died because you had shit for brains, and that's fucking embarrassing too.'

Buffy left them to it, she fervently hoped they didn't pick up his speech patterns _beyond_ calling her "Slayer-Chef". It put Faith's profanity in a whole new light she considered.

Her pager went off, as did Cordelia's, Buffy unclipped hers from her belt and checked it. 'Trouble' she said with a sigh.

'Well it's been a few weeks since anything catastrophic happened' Cordelia replied, 'we were due' she added fatalistically.

**Wolfram and Hart Building – Los Angeles – December 2003**

'Who _are_ these assholes?' Lilah demanded to know as another trio of Security Guards ran past her heading for the stairwell while she hurried to her office. They'd come in by helicopter from the roof, at least three helicopters worth in fact, and they were making their way down, carving through the buildings security detail as they went.

Hauser, the black-clad head of the LA unit of the company Special-Ops team who was accompanying her shook his head, 'We don't know' he replied. 'There was a story that they hit a Demon Cabal in Jakarta we had tentative associations with, and they might be the ones that wiped out the Tanmar Death Chamber last month too' he replied, following on behind Lilah. 'Rumour says they're robots, plenty of those about' he added. 'I've deployed my own duty team to guard the vault' he told her. He was wearing an earpiece and a headset microphone so he could communicate with the security teams and was listening in on reports. 'They're armoured' he said listening in to the radio chatter coming from the guards in the floors above, 'pistol rounds aren't stopping them' he told her.

Lilah sighed, Security Division had been saying they ought to start issuing heavier weapons to the guards in response to rumours of what the slayers were carrying, she should have listened apparently if only to deal with what seemed an entirely different opponent. 'So we think the attackers are good guys?' Lilah asked him.

'Judging from the methods, and the fact they've already killed some of our _human_ guards they aren't _that_ good' the Special-Ops commander replied evenly over the sound of distant, but closing, gunfire. 'As you ordered the vaults are sealed and every guard in the building is moving to intercept on the available routes down through the building' he told her.

An explosion shook the tower, rattling the partition walls, as further down the corridor the ceiling blew in and other black clad figures jumped down. They weren't Wolfram and Hart Special Op's though, they were the intruders. 'Guess they decided to make some more' Lilah replied wryly.

'You're a valuable hostage and source of information Ma'am' Hauser told her. 'Run and hide, I'll run interference, try to take a few out' he told her raising his MP5 sub-machinegun and getting ready to earn his pay.

'Well good luck with that' Lilah replied. 'So I'll be heading his way, see you later maybe' she told him as she started running the other direction, kicking off her high heels for practicality. Where the hell was Hamilton when you needed a large, well-dressed superpowered thug anyway? The Senior Partners had him off doing something offworld, goddamn typical she thought.

Most of the office staff had already headed home for the day but there were still plenty of them running around like headless chickens getting in Lilah's way as she ran down the corridor. It was all far too familiar, unpleasant memories of being stabbed in the gut and chased through the building by a mass-murdering animate rock demon rose to the fore as she ran.

Lilah turned a corner where two corridors crossed, heading for the secret escape hatch but she was forced to immediately haul on the brakes and nearly fell to the ground as one of the invaders appeared directly in her path. It clearly spotted her because it started to twirl a metal chain in its hands and started to move towards her as she gathered her wits, changed direction and headed back down where she'd come from taking the other direction.

A hand snapped out and grabbed her pulling her into an office. 'Oh you've _got_ to be kidding me?' Lilah declared.

'We really must stop meeting like this' Wesley told her before stepping past her ,out into the corridor with his G-36K in his hands holding down the trigger as soon as the target lined up, the carbine assault-rifles high-velocity ammunition punching through the cyborgs torso and knocking it backwards to land on its back. Wesley put another burst through it to make sure then stepped back into the office with Lilah, ejecting the now spent magazine and loading another from the ones he'd stuffed in his jacket pocket.

'What the hell are _you_ doing here?' Lilah demanded to know.

'Saving your arse apparently' Wesley replied wryly. 'Thought the buggers might want to get their hands on you' he added. 'As it happens I was just driving past when my pager went off telling me something was happening here.'

Lilah stared at him. 'Are those things anything to do with you?' she asked angrily, just because he'd just shot one that didn't mean anything, _she_ would have sacrificed one of her own for a convincing cover story.

'Nothing whatsoever' Wesley replied honestly. 'When I heard you had visitors… well I felt the need to… help you' he told her. 'Probably guilt for what happened before' he added, thinking about it, 'surprised I felt any after you tried to kill me with that bloody satellite though, I must be barmy.'

'You were just collateral damage' Lilah replied, she felt guilty about that but she wasn't going to let on. 'I was after the Blue Bitch' she said coldly.

Wesley grunted. 'I threatened to thump my own father for calling Illyria a bitch, and I'm not above giving you a slap either' he told her evenly, his father had returned the next day after getting a stern rebuke from Giles for abandoning his post in London. 'Now let's get out of here' he said taking point. 'If you could steer me the right direction for your escape chute that would be useful, I assume there still is one post-refurbishment?' he queried.

'Back where I came from' Lilah told him and he started to move with her following on behind, Wesley moved through the building at a steady pace, his carbine shouldered ready for immediate use. 'How did you know they were here?' she asked.

'We've got the building under constant electronic and mystical surveillance' Wesley replied with a smirk. 'And yes we know you can't say the same for the Hyperion, we've just got better geeks and magic users than you and besides which we had copies of most of your files, it gives us somewhat of an edge on that front, we developed cloaking spells and electronic jamming equipment specifically designed to counter your systems.' he told her with obvious amusement. How the tables had turned over the course of the last year. 'We can't listen in on the conversations inside the building yet unfortunately but we know when you've got uninvited guests.'

'How did you even get _inside_?' Lilah demanded to know.

'Walked in the front door' Wesley replied. 'Most people were trying to get out and there was a notable lack of security guards.'

Lilah sighed. 'They were all busy getting their asses kicked.'

'Pity your guests didn't try dropping in on the Hyperion' Wesley replied. 'I'd love to see how they handled _our_ security' he added smugly. A dozen slayers with Brenneke loaded shotguns and G-36K's would have made for a _much_ warmer reception.

'Stop acting so damn superior' Lilah snapped, 'a year ago it would have been a complement describing you as a two-bit operation.'

Wesley's cellphone started to ring. 'Could you get it' he asked, 'I'd rather not have to lower my weapon, it's in my right-hand jacket pocket along with a stun grenade' he told her, 'be careful with the grenade' he added.

'At least it's not in your pants' Lilah replied reaching into his jacket, 'and don't remind me it wouldn't be the first time I've put my hand in there because it's crass.'

Wesley smirked. 'I was only thinking it' he told her still looking along the gunsight.

Lilah snapped open the phone. 'Wesley Wyndham-Pryce's phone, damsel in distress speaking' she said, then listened to the reply. 'Hello, yes it's me' she said talking to the caller. 'No I don't know why he came after me either… I would have said noble instead of retarded but you could have a point, we're up on twenty-eighth' she responded then paused again to listen. 'I'll tell him' she said. 'Faith says she's in the Lobby heading up with a team and she's going to kick your ass' Lilah advised him snapping the phone shut again and dropping it back in his pocket.

'Thank God' Wesley replied. 'I thought it might be Illyria' he said with relief. She was supposed to be in Pylea but that didn't mean she was. The various mystical defences on the building meant that Illyria couldn't just portal in, well not without downing a half pint of Dawn's blood as a booster, but she could certainly appear outside and get up here the old fashioned way.

'Got you whipped does she?' Lilah asked.

'Only on special occasions when I ask nicely' Wesley replied with his stock answer, it was surprising just how many people said that to him, or maybe it wasn't.

The sounds of gunfire started to fade away. 'I guess either my guys won and there's not much left to shoot with or they're all gone' Lilah noted. 'Care to make a bet on which?'

'I find assuming the worst to be hopelessly optimistic as a rule' Wesley replied turning into the next corridor and immediately pulling the trigger on his carbine firing a series of short bursts. 'Bastards are quick too' he said missing his target as the Cyborg that had appeared jumped out of the way, through a partition wall as it happened.

A huge explosion, far louder than the one that had earlier blown a hole in the corridor ceiling, rocked the building. 'I imagine they just blew a hole in your vault' he told Lilah. 'Hope you didn't keep anything of value in there' he joked, still keeping his weapon ready to perforate the man-machine hybrid when it appeared again.

'You'd better not know how these jerks are Wes' Lilah told him seriously.

'I'm as much in the dark as to their identity as you are' he replied. 'My guess would be there's a third player out there with some major resources backing them up.'

'Shit' Lilah swore 'and I thought it was bad enough having your team in the game too.'

'Oh we're bad enough' Wesley replied. 'Would you mind reaching into my pocket again and retrieving that grenade I told you about instead this time?'

Lilah growled and did as she was told. 'Rebuilding the place over and over again is kicking the shit out of our maintenance budget' she said.

'It won't cause much physical damage' Wesley told her. 'Just pull the pin, throw it around the corner, close your eyes and put your hands over my ears' he told her.

'Do what?' Lilah asked.

'My hands are full and I don't want to be deaf when I run that thing down' he answered, '_your_ ears ringing isn't as big a deal' he explained.

'You'd better know what you're doing lover' Lilah told him getting the grenade out of his jacket and pulling the pin.

'I'm almost positive this'll work' Wesley told her as she pulled the pin and threw the grenade down the corridor. Wesley squeezed his eyes shut and he felt Lilah place her hands quickly over his ears. Good girl, he thought.

The stun grenade went off with a deafening crack and a blinding flash, Wesley was already running before he opened his eyes. He quickly reached the point at which the Cyborg had jumped through the wall and turned into it, sure enough the thing had been stood there waiting in ambush and it was completely disorientated. Wesley put a burst of fire through it, followed by a shot to the head for good measure before running back to Lilah finding her in the same place shaking her head trying in vain to clear it. He indicated for her to follow which she did until she reached some broken glass on the floor and she pointed to her bare feet. Wesley picked her up with one arm around her waist carried her a few steps until she was past the broken glass and put her back down. She didn't look any more enthused by the physical contact as he felt about it which came as something of a relief.

A voice called his name. 'Faith' he called back, 'watch out for cyborgs' he called out. She must have run up the stairs and even at slayer speed she must have made great time to get up this many floors by now.

Wesley, Lilah still in tow almost ran into Faith carrying a pump-action shotgun and three carbine armed slayers around the next corner. 'What was all that bullshit about always waiting for backup?' Faith asked him angrily, clearly pissed off.

'Do as I say not as I do' Wesley replied with a shrug.

'And why the fuck do you want to risk your ass for this bitch?' Faith asked stabbing a finger at his companion.

'What?' Lilah asked, her ears were still ringing from the stun grenade blast and she couldn't read lips.

'She's deaf, stun grenade' Wesley explained, 'and as for why, honestly, I'm fucked if I know' he replied with a shrug.

'We leaving or trying to bag us a robot boss?' one of the other slayers asked. They were covering all directions with their G-36K's, the carbines now standard slayer issue to anyone that passed the advanced firearms course.

'Far as I'm concerned we got what we came for' Faith replied, 'and one thing we didn't' she added rolling her eyes. 'Come on lawyer-bitch' she said indicating for Lilah to follow her which she did.

The stairwells were clear and they ran down the first few flights until Lilah started to flag whereupon they slowed the pace. Nothing seemed to be following them but they kept guns ready just in case.

When they eventually reached the ground floor they ran straight into another group of Wolfram and Hart Special Ops that had been called out from home and were about to start moving the other direction. A brief standoff between the slayers and the company troops was ended by Lilah who told her people to stand down having finally got her hearing back.

'Captain Hauser is on the radio Ma'am' one of the Special-Ops told her. 'The enemy are evacuating the building, friendly losses are high, and they've stolen several items from the vaults.'

'Shit' Lilah swore. 'Get your asses up to Hauser' she ordered then turned to Wesley as they moved to obey, still watching the slayers nervously. 'My knight in scruffy armour rides to the rescue again' she said to Wesley. 'Oh be still my beating heart' she added sardonically.

'Does it still beat?' Faith asked with a sneer. 'Let's get out of here Wes' she told him.

Wesley looked at Lilah. 'I wish I could help you find peace' he told her honestly.

'Get the hell out of my building' Lilah retorted coldly, pointing at the doors.

After they'd gone Lilah slumped into the empty receptionist chair and started to cry. Why the hell did he have to do something like that for she wondered? She didn't think she was worth saving, why did it matter so much that he thought she was?

Eventually she stopped feeling sorry for herself and the efficient, calculating Lilah took over again. She had a company to run after all, first order of business track down the people that had just dropped in on them and organise some swift brutal retaliation. She took a deep breath, wiped away her tears and straightened up in her chair. Nobody fucks with Lilah "Vicious Bitch" Morgan and gets away with it scot-free she thought to herself.

Lilah grinned, heck even Wesley had a few scratches on his back to prove that one she remembered, while reaching for the telephone.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – December 2003**

Knox unfolded the huge map across the pair of dining room tables which had been pushed together to hold it, lacking a decent sized printer it was made up of a mosaic of A4 sheets of paper which Andrew voluntarily, and Eve involuntarily, had spent much of the last hour helping out, sticking the sheets together with scotch tape. Most of the senior staff and a few curious others ringed the tables and looked on with interest.

'Okay I admit it' Buffy said. 'I'm impressed' she admitted, it had turned out a hell of a lot better than she thought it would. 'You really did this with a toy plane?' she asked.

'It had a five foot wingspan, it wasn't _that_ much of a toy' Knox replied. 'Fred did a lot of the work on the digital camera and the hard drive. All it really did was fly over Pylea taking pictures from a couple of thousand feet up and when we got it back we merged the photographs together like a jigsaw puzzle and played around with it on the computer some' he explained. 'We enhanced some of the geographical features so that roads and trails stand out and added best-guess contour lines and here we are' he said. 'We kept it black and white for resolution and definition, except for the roads which we've put in red and the rivers and lakes in blue, but we could give you a full colour picture if you wanted.'

Illyria looked the quasi-map come aerial photograph over with interest. 'I recognise many of these geographical features from seeing them at ground level', she said. 'I will fill in missing information that may have been obscured by vegetation' she continued. 'There are several other trails that need to be added for one thing.'

'So it was uneventful?' Wesley asked Illyria. 'Your visit to Pylea I mean?'

Illyria looked at him with glacial blue eyes. 'Less so than your own time was spent in my absence so I hear' she replied inscrutably. 'After I arrived on Pylea I merely made my way to the top of a hill, started up the devices engine and threw it into the air where it flew up and down on a computer controlled course before returning to its launch site to be retrieved once it became low on fuel' she told them. 'I then refuelled the device, downloaded the images it had recorded so far onto a datastick and launched it again so it could fly the next grid on its mission.'

'Fred did the programming' Knox chimed in causing her to blush.

'For my part it was extremely dull' Illyria noted. 'Fortunately I bought along my Gameboy' she added then examined an area of the map more closely. 'What is this feature?' she asked looking more closely.

Knox smiled, he knew the God-King would notice what others did not. 'Here's a higher resolution picture of that blown up' he said placing another sheet down.

'Son-of-a-bitch' Buffy exclaimed. 'It's a dragon.'

'Drinking from a stream' Illyria noted. 'The Legions of the Archduke Sebassis do include a number of dragons which are used as a primitive air-support function, plus as terror weapons' she told them

'Fire-breathing?' Wesley asked.

'Yes' Illyria answered him.

'Oh that should be easy enough then' Wesley declared. 'Anything that breathes fire has got to have a fairly decent Infra-Red Signature' he theorised.

'MANPADS?' Xander queried thinking along the same lines.

'We've got a crate in the basement already' Wesley replied.

'Man Portable Air-Defence' Xander explained for the benefit of the military abbreviation illiterate. 'The shoulder-launched Heat-Seeking Missiles we bought a few months back.'

'Can I do that?' Angel requested. 'I always wanted to slay the dragon' he announced causing Illyria to smirk for some reason.

Willow inexplicably burst out laughing everyone turning to her in confusion. 'Don't you see' she said pointing. 'It's a map' she said. 'Here be Dragons' she said and started laughing again setting off a few others this time.

'We're hoping to be develop an improved version of the unit that will allow real-time transmission of images to a ground station, like say a laptop computer' Fred told the group once they calmed down. 'We don't have to worry about electronic-counter-measures or anything like that so it's nowhere near as tricky or expensive to do as it is with the military UAV's.'

'UAV's?' Buffy asked still chuckling slightly at Willows joke.

'Unmanned Aerial Vehicles' Illyria explained. 'With this technology our forces on Pylea would have an enormous tactical advantage.'

'I thought having _guns_ already gave us an "enormous tactical advantage" on Pylea' Buffy responded.

'This is not the Age of Chivalry' Illyria replied. 'There is no bonus prize or kudos for playing fair' she told her. 'Our forces should employ all means available to them, if nothing else it will lead to despondency amidst the enemy ranks to realise just how outmatched they really are' she declared. 'To quote Napoleon "In war, the moral is to the physical as three is to one", we need to counter our initial numerical disadvantage through a doctrine of overwhelming force and battlefield technological supremacy that will break the morale of our foe, make them _afraid_ to take the field against us. Once the people of Pylea see how powerful we are they will flock to the resistance, then we will have both firepower _and _numbers.'

'You know if we placed mortars on this ridge we'd own this valley' Xander said sweeping his hand over the map, 'and with aerial recon we could even fire accurately over these hills using the UAV to correct our aim' he continued. 'If they tried to push troops along _any_ of these trails we could slaughter them before they could get within two miles of us' he said. 'Hey I know this stuff' he said in response to the expressions directed his way, 'I can't give you any quotes from Napoleon though' he added. 'Oh here's I borrowed from General George S. Patton though' he said straightening up. 'No one ever won a war by dying for his dimension. He won it by making the _other_ poor dumb bastard die for _his_ dimension.'

Buffy looked at the map. 'Life was a whole lot less complex when I was just thinking about staking vampires instead of planning invasions' she said shaking her head.

'In fact I tend to do most of the planning' Illyria noted. In reality far more than anyone else was even aware.

'You're better at it' Buffy replied evenly. 'I just don't do "ruthless megalomaniacal warlord" very well.'

Illyria nodded her agreement. 'You should not let your deficiencies in that quarter bother you' she replied, 'In mental faculty you are only human.'

'So I'm thinking we rename this line of hills over here something catchy, like say the Alexanders' Xander said pointing at a different spot on the map 'You know after that _other_ great conqueror, Alexander the Great' he explained.

Cordelia fixed him with a glare, then her eyes widened as something occurred to her. 'Hey I'm a Princess' she realised. 'Knox I want this river marked down as being called "The Chase", and those hills are henceforth the "Cordelian Range".'

'And how easily we slip into dreams of Imperial Glory' Giles noted sadly.

'Hey you're just jealous because you only had _one_ sun that never set on the Union Jack' Cordelia retorted.

Amateurs, Illyria thought to herself as the squabbling began. It was obvious to _anyone_ that the best piece of real estate on the map was the underused plateau there with its fantastic natural fortifications, or New Vahla ha'nesh as she decided to call it.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_This Fanfic as ever continues to run on reviews. One more chapter to go of "New Rules" and then I'm afraid it's all over... _

_...until **Compelled to Play with Destiny** starts up that is :-p_

_Thanks to all the reviewers who've made continuing the series worthwhile._


	32. Chapter 32

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

**CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO**

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – December 2003**

'What in the hell?' Buffy exclaimed, walking into the Dining Room. The tables were all pushed to one side of the room and one the other side girls were sat on the floor either next to crates of bullets loading assault rifle magazines or they were stripping down and oiling the rifles themselves.

'The first batch of AK-47's finally arrived' Wesley explained. 'We're making sure they're in good working order and getting mags ready for them' he told her walking past the slayer carrying another cardboard box full of empty magazines.

'Couldn't you do this somewhere else?' Buffy asked.

'That's what Andrew said' Wesley replied, 'and I'm afraid this is simply the most convenient place size wise, and we've got rather a lot to do.'

'Define "a lot" please Wes?' Buffy told him with a frown.

'Two hundred rifles to strip and reassemble, two thousand magazines to load' Wesley replied evenly. 'We shouldn't be here _too_ long' he told her making no effort to define how long that actually meant.

'They're in decent condition anyway, I've seen plenty of AK's that were in shitty condition, you could buy one in Africa for fifty bucks' Ashton the mercenary noted from where he was sat cross-legged on the floor looking down a rifle-barrel. 'Emil sells good quality merchandise, he has great word of mouth advertising' he noted. 'Plus he knows that even if he's not certain _you'd_ kill him he knows for fucking sure _we_ would' he added giving a nod to his counterpart Perković who was showing another girl how to strip down a Kalashnikov, many hands make light work. The big Croatian looked up and nodded in agreement, if Emil tried to foist defective weaponry or ammunition on them he would soon receive a visit and at the very least it would be his face, not his door they'd be pounding on, after all they'd beaten him up before.

Buffy looked around, shaking her head. 'What would the cops say if they came in and saw this?' she asked.

'To my way of thinking Willow would look them in the eyes and say "these are not the droids you are looking for" and they'd go away again' Xander offered appearing behind Wesley with another cardboard box.

'Or we _could_ just fight the buggers off' Wesley joked. 'I mean if the ATF turned up with Armoured Personnel Carriers we'd soon sort them out too if it came to it' he continued. 'Of course a memory spell and a glamour to hide all the guns _would_ be a tad less high profile' he admitted. 'Put the box down over there' he told Xander, 'the girls will help themselves to magazines when they need them.'

Buffy sighed. 'Just get all of this crap out of here and put somewhere else as soon as you can' she told them.

'Oui Slayer-Chef' Xander replied, trying to keep a straight face.

Buffy turned to Ashton who put down the rifle in his hands and held up his hands palms outwards in a quasi surrender 'You told me to get the girls to start calling you that, it must have caught on' he told her.

'It sounds better when _you_ do it, less…. insolent' she told the mercenary while giving Xander a look.

'I'm well practised at not making officers think I'm being insolent Slayer-Chef' Ashton replied which could have meant anything, his voice and face were utterly unreadable though he was not being helped by the smirk plastered all over Perković's face nearby.

'Great now even the hired help disrespects me' Buffy complained.

'Look on the bright side' Ashton responded, 'we might get killed and then you wouldn't even have to pay us' he told her wryly. 'You pay for our services, respect is earned' he told her.

'What's this?' Xander asked. 'Warrior Zen? The Tao of Mercenary?'

Ashton laughed. 'If you're looking for hidden depths try Perković' he said. 'He's the one that could have made something of himself with a better break, I only ever wanted to be a soldier.'

Buffy frowned realising she really knew hardly anything about them. 'So what's your hard-luck story?' she asked the Croatian. 'Unhappy childhood?' she asked.

Perković looked up at her. 'It was good till Serbs come to my hometown and kill my family' he answered emotionlessly. 'Seige of Vukovar you may know?' he queried before continuing. 'I join Croatian Army to fight them, when war ends I cannot do anything else but be soldier, no qualifications, so join Legion.'

'No qualifications?' Buffy queried.

'Janko here joined up when he was a few years underage right Jan?' Ashton asked with a chuckle.

'Tall for age' Perković replied with the hint of a smile. 'Was fourteen, had not finished school' he explained then looked around, everyone in the room was looking at him. 'Even younger than you when learn to fight' he told the slayer he was showing how to strip the AK with a wink.

'Makes you want to tear up doesn't it?' Ashton asked in amusement observing Buffy's expression.

'Helps explain why you don't mind taking teenage kids into battle anyhow' Xander noted.

'Nah that's because of all the child soldiers we met in Africa' Ashton replied. 'Nothing more vicious than a brainwashed little fucker with a Kalashnikov' he opined. 'Well except maybe a teenage girl with superpowers' he added with a chuckle 'Anyhow you'll never see children in the same way after one of them has tried to blow your brains out. Especially when you have to put a burst through them before they give it another try.'

Perković said something to Ashton in French.

'Yeah' he responded. 'They'll never look at us in the same way again' he agreed snapping the rifle in his hands back together and pulling back the cocking handle. 'You know why they call us the Dogs of War?' he asked. 'It's because we're all sons-of-bitches' he told them flatly, pulling the trigger on the rifle letting the bolt fall onto the empty chamber, the sound seeming to echo in the now quiet room.

**Restaurant – Los Angeles – December 2003**

Connor caught the hint of a smirk on Stephen's face as he looked over the menu in dismay. 'It's in French' Connor noted with mild alarm. 'I can't read French.'

'I could translate' Stephen offered helpfully.

'He'd feed you snails and frogs legs' Emily warned. 'Let me do it' she advised him.

Dawn looked the menu over too. 'I'm better with ancient languages, ones that nobody has spoken in at least a thousand years' she admitted. 'I'll take some translation help' she said. 'From Emily I mean' she added.

Stephen frowned. 'I'm not puerile enough to do what you're all suggesting' he declared.

Emily threw him a look.

'Okay so I _thought _about doing it' Stephen admitted, 'but I'm not petty enough to actually go _through_ with it' he told them.

'He used to be but I've been training him' Emily confided.

Stephen ignored the comment and having decided what he was going to eat looked over the wine list despondently. He'd love a bottle of a decent Red to go with his chosen meal but they'd almost certainly ask to see proof of age, it was almost barbaric he considered sadly.

Connor looked terribly nervous and it wasn't because of the menu. Stephen had basically cajoled him into asking Dawn to join Emily and himself into going out to dinner and he felt awfully out of place, the jacket and tie wasn't helping matters much either. As far as he knew he was only there because Emily had told Stephen she didn't want them to go out alone again and the choice of dinner companions was strictly limited by the fact that Connor was the only guy he knew the same age whereas Dawn was there because she was again the same age but not one of the slayers, Stephen liked to keep a professional distance from the slayers, and besides which they revelled in yanking his chain and it annoyed him.

In reality neither Connor nor Stephen knew that it was all a plot by Emily to get Dawn and Connor together because she thought they'd make a nice couple and besides which she really _did_ want another couple to go out with sometimes so it wasn't just altruistic matchmaking on her part. What Emily herselfdidn't realise was that _she_ had been carefully manipulated into this course by Illyria who had been making off-handed comments in her presence designed to lead to this result.

Somebody could of course have been manipulating Illyria too, but it was unlikely anything from higher-power downwards had the guts to risk it given the consequences if she found out.

After the waiter took their order, again in French, they started to chit-chat about things, mostly gossip from work naturally although Emily interjected some stories about how she was getting on at school which was proving to be very strange for her since she had never really associated much with people who didn't know magic and demons existed. It was Dawn that really broke the ice by asking about the boys little adventure to Madame Dorions which caused Stephen to both wince and cower at the glare he immediately got from Emily as soon as the subject was raised, Connor just laughed at the others discomfort and that relaxed him enough to start enjoying the evening himself.

The dinner was excellent, although Stephen did mention he thought it suffered for the lack of a bottle of wine and they were considering dessert when Connor froze and started surreptitiously sniffing the air. 'Vampire' he mouthed to Stephen who himself muttered something obscene in response.

Dawn watched Connor with interest, his entire demeanour, even his physical presence almost seemed to change before her eyes. Whereas a second ago he was smiling and joking there was the look of the hunter about him, his eyes were everywhere as he slowly cranked his head around to try and spot the source of the scent. His eyes locked on a couple that had just been seated on the other side of the restaurant and he indicated them using his knife to point.

'I've got a stake in my purse' Dawn whispered.

'Me too' Emily whispered back, 'and the ceramic knife I take to school' she added. She always carried them, you never knew when they'd come in hand.

'Collapsible sword' Stephen said quietly tapping the right sleeve of his jacket.

'We wouldn't have even bothered to ask' Dawn responded with a grin. 'Most people think you wear it to bed.'

'He doesn't' Emily told her.

'How do you know?' Dawn asked in surprise. She was fairly sure they weren't sleeping together, she had only just had her fifteenth birthday and perhaps more importantly Giles hadn't killed Stephen.

'I walked in on him when he was getting undressed for bed after a night patrol once' Emily told her. 'No sword but he _was_ wearing Snoopy boxer-shorts.'

Stephen went bright red as Dawn choked down laughter.

'Spring-loaded stake' Connor told them, remaining focused and tapping his left wrist, 'hunting knife under my arm and a dagger on my right leg' he continued, 'and a Taser in my jacket pocket' he added.

'Show off' Dawn told him sticking out her tongue.

'Well I feel underdressed' Stephen remarked in response to Connors arsenal.

'Not even with the Peanuts styled underwear?' Dawn asked him, causing him to flush again and glare at Emily who stuck her own tongue out at him in response.

'The girl's human' Connor told them, 'the guy is the vampire. I guess she's the dessert.'

'What do we do?' Dawn asked.

'Here's an idea, someone goes outside and telephones the restaurant on their mobile, I mean cellphone, and asks to speak to him, and when he goes to answer it we can dust him when there's not so many witnesses' Stephen suggested.

'Or I _could_ just follow him to the bathroom, which is where it looks like he's headed, and dust him in there' Connor replied with a smirk.

Stephen shrugged. 'Or you could do that' he agreed unable to fault the logic. 'I'll wait outside and keep anyone from coming in. I'll babble in French they'll think I'm staff' he said, getting up as did Connor. 'Ladies' he said with a slight bow.

As they followed the vampire Dawn watched them. 'Is Stephen always that formal?' she asked the English girl.

'No he puts it on a bit in company' Emily replied. 'When it's just the two of us he's much more chilled out' she told her. 'I think he worries about people not taking him seriously because of his age. He wants to be a good watcher, not let down the family honour.'

'He's a huge improvement on his Dad if you want my opinion' Dawn told her.

'So what do you think about Connor?' Emily asked.

'Well there's certainly a lot of the "under the fathers shadow" thing going on around here' Dawn replied knowingly. 'He always seems out of place somehow.'

'With his upbringing who can blame him for that' Emily replied. 'I think he likes you' she added.

Dawn grinned. 'I think he liked the cavegirl outfit I wore to the Halloween party more' she replied.

'The fact you nearly killed him by making him fall down the stairs was the giveaway was it?' Emily asked with a giggle. 'Stephen teased him mercilessly about that for a fortnight or so, it's the only time Connor's ever been clumsy.'

Dawn smiled, she hadn't really thought of Connor in those terms, as a potential boyfriend or anything, but it did feel good at the time to have a quite literally stunning effect on the guy. 'Connors followed him in' she said.

'We might need to leave in a hurry' Emily warned reaching for her purse for some money. 'I'll pay, you can pay me back later' she said, getting out a few notes.

'Right' Dawn replied. 'This is like going somewhere with Buffy' she said, 'only we actually got to finish the main course before the vampires showed up' she continued. 'I think she attracts them.'

'Slayer blood' Emily noted. 'It's supposed to smell extra tasty or something so I've heard' she said.

'I'll have to ask Spike' Dawn responded. 'Oh oh sounds like trouble' she said as a great deal of commotion could be heard coming from the men's restroom. The sounds of things being smashed built until the door burst open suddenly and the vampire burst out running for its life fully vamped out with fangs on display.

It got no more that three feet from the door, Connor in hot pursuit, when Stephen triggered his collapsible sword and slashed it through the air neatly decapitating the creature which exploded into a cloud of dust and ash in full view of half the restaurant and covering Connor in white powder.

Stephen felt everyone's eyes on him as the girls quietly dumped some money on the table and started to head nonchalantly towards the exit.

'Think fast sword-boy' Connor whispered, as he started brushing the remains of the vampire off his jacket.

Stephen held the collapsible sword aloft over his head and summoned the best Scottish accent he could muster. 'There can be only one!' he declared loudly before the two of them made a break for the door.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – December 2003**

The Grossalug, his name usually abbreviated to Groo during his travels on this world looked over the aerial photograph derived map spread out on the conference room table and traced his finger along a trail marked upon it. 'This would be your best route for approaching the castle' he advised. 'It was a trade route years past but has since fallen into disuse. You would be unlikely to run into many using it unlike any of the other paths that would get you so close.'

Stirling scratched his chin. 'Exactly how much of a first impression are we hoping to make?' he asked Buffy.

'Why?' Buffy asked him. She had been walking past the Conference room and had looked in to find Groo, Stirling and Ashton discussing Pylean geography. The Groosalug had an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of his home world and its terrain and was filling in additional detail that Fred and Lorn had missed out.

The elderly watcher looked thoughtful. 'I think you'll find that the clearing there is in mortar range of the castle' he told her. 'Given the girls physical strength we should be able to get a small team with one of our tubes and plenty of bombs for the thing there and blast the bally place to smithereens' he suggested indicating for Ashton who had been hanging back to come take a look.

The mercenary noted the point on the map Stirling was indicating. 'The type of mortars you've got in the armoury can throw a round out to five and a half klicks' he said. 'That spot is _well_ within range' he agreed. 'One tube with say thirty rounds would ruin their whole day.'

'Thirty rounds' Stirling repeated. 'How long to fire that many?'

'Less than three minutes if you want to put some effort into it, but you'd be better off with ten rounds rapid to make a show of it once you've got the range and then throttle back to three a minute, give the observers a chance to redirect fire on targets of opportunity' Ashton answered. 'I'll handle the mortar, Janko could instead but he's a better shot than me so you'd be better off with him sniping from that hill there' he suggested tapping another place on the map, 'him and the South African chick Rika' he added.

'What about Vi?' Buffy asked, she was a damn good shot too.

'I'm sure she could do it but you'd be better off keeping her as a section leader' Stirling told her. 'Her girls are comfortable with her in charge and you'd be better off not breaking up existing formations' he explained. 'Things could get very hectic and you'll want a reliable steadfast group to hold the line, not many of your girls have actually used firearms in combat even if they've been trained with them.'

'I still do not see why you do not simply take the castle' the Groosalug queried. 'Once it falls you have seized the seat of power on Pylea.'

'Because there's tens of thousands of them already on Pylea and Sebassis has _hundreds_ of thousands more he can portal there' Stirling replied. 'With that kind of numerical superiority they could just surround us, charge down the guns and take the place back.'

'And we'd all be dead' Ashton added, 'which sucks because it means I don't get to spend my pay.'

Stirling nodded. 'But if we give them a swift kick up the rear, play hit and run for a while to rouse the populace and bloody their noses while we build up numbers of our own eventually we'll be bleeding them white.'

'And we'll still be alive' Ashton added in a more upbeat manner, 'which means I _do_ get my pay and hopefully an opportunity to_ get_ sucked later on.'

The Groosalug looked at the mercenary with distaste. 'Your language is profane and you fight for coin not honour or duty' he stated. 'You are no champion' he added.

'I think he's trying to hurt my feelings' the mercenary responded with a smirk.

'Take a hike Ashton' Buffy told him. She didn't want any trouble and Groo wasn't the type to back down, the mercenary however would just do what he was told.

'Yes Slayer-Chef' Ashton responded straightening up. 'I'll be downstairs teaching little girls to blow shit up if you need me' he told her straight-faced before spinning on his heel and leaving the conference room.

'Quite the charmer' Stirling wryly observed once the mercenary had left. 'Reminds me of a Sergeant I once had, not exactly the most pleasant company at times but I'd hazard a guess that he'll grow on you after the bullets start flying around.

Buffy leaned on the table and drummed her fingers on it absent-mindedly. She was less than pleased with the changes being wrought within the slayer ranks over the last few months and the prospect of the Pylean war was starting to bring things to a head. In particular the sheer ruthlessness, near bloodlust being promoted amongst the slayers who had volunteered for service offworld was troubling.

'You are not pleased with the plan Stirling presents?' Groo asked Buffy.

'Oh the results are just fine it's the methods that I'm not happy with' Buffy replied.

'If you try to play the game with one hand tied behind your back even if you win you'll pay a higher price than you want' Stirling told her. 'This is not a scenario your experience as a slayer gives much understanding of' he continued, 'this is war, not hand-to-hand combat, you need a soldier mindset and you must accept there's a price to pay for victory.'

'The moral high ground you mean?' Buffy replied. 'Turning teenage girls into killers, not slayers' she said remembering what Ashton had said to her before, 'killers' she repeated.

'Ask yourself this' Stirling told her. 'How many Pylean lives, human and demon are worth your piece of mind?' he asked rhetorically. 'That's the bottom line on all of this' he said. 'You have the power at your disposal to overturn the balance of power in the universe, you could save more lives than you could have dreamed of not too long ago, we're not talking merely _billions_ we're talking the populations of a countless number of worlds for all eternity' he pointed out. 'Any remotely moral person would willingly sacrifice their lives in a heartbeat to achieve that. You just need to sacrifice some of your humanity.'

'To become like Illyria' Buffy asked the old man. 'Goal orientated with a defective moral compass?'

'Well she seems to get results and always arrives at her chosen destination as it were' Stirling replied with a smile, 'but the fact you _are_ agonising over these things indicates your moral compass is still pointing firmly north' he told her.

'I wish I was so sure' Buffy responded quietly.

The Groosalug looked out of the window. 'On Pylea there were never the shades of grey I have encountered in the moral ambiguities on this world' he said. 'It was simply right and wrong with no real comprehension of how childlike and simplistic that really is' he said. 'In my travels through the lands I have visited here I tried to remain a true champion but sometimes I was unable to fathom the best course of action' he continued. 'Choosing right from wrong is easy, choosing the least wrong of two possible outcomes is much more vexing. I do not envy your position Buffy' he told her. 'As a leader your task is far more difficult than that of one of your warriors, they simply have to fight the battles not pick which ones they are to fight or how they should do so. I have been both warrior and leader, and I would far rather risk my life as the former than my soul as the latter.'

Buffy looked at him and smiled. 'I know two people from Pylea' she told the Grossalug, 'and if you and Lorne have done nothing else you've proved that you don't have to be born human on this world to be worth saving' she said.

Stirling addressed her. 'If I might be permitted a few words from John Stuart Mill "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse".'

'Right wing nut-job?' Buffy queried.

'Political and philosophical Liberal' Stirling replied with a smile. 'The ends sometimes _do_ justify the means, and if the ends are worthwhile enough in theory they could justify anything, no matter how "ugly" or abhorrent.'

'I just wish it wasn't me who had the final say' Buffy told him.

'You could always abrogate your leadership to Illyria' Stirling suggested with a chuckle.

Buffy grimaced. 'I'd hate to see the ends that justified _those_ means' she responded.

**Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – December 2003**

'I still can't believe you made us go to Church' Deborah complained, following Giles through the lobby doors. As well as her sisters and Stephen they were accompanied by a number of slayers who had gone with them to the local Episcopalian Church, the closest thing to the Church of England you could get here.

'It's Christmas day' Giles pointed out. 'It's no time to be a heathen.'

Dawn bounded up to them wearing red and green ribbons in her hair. 'So how was it?' she asked.

'Not my idea of how to spend Christmas morning' Deborah replied.

'Stop complaining and go open your presents' Giles told her, the girl not needing to be told twice shot off followed by her twin.

'I thought it was a nice service' Stephen told Dawn. 'I always attended with my father on Christmas day although he stopped making me go Sundays when I was fourteen' he told her before turning to Emily. 'Want to go upstairs and unwrap the present I got you' he asked her.

'If you're going to be in each others rooms that had better be the _only_ thing that gets unwrapped' Giles told them as they headed for the stairs.

'I knew you'd be strict' Dawn told him with a grin.

Giles sighed. 'It's quite bad enough playing the father, I certainly not ready to be thinking about the grandfather role too' he replied. 'Besides which I'd rather not have to borrow Wesley's shotgun and go chasing after young Stephen to haul him and Emily back to the Church we just left.'

'You should see the Christmas dinner Andrew's preparing' Dawn told Giles linking her arm with his and leading him across the Lobby. 'And you won't believe this but Illyria bought everyone, I mean _everyone_ a present, they're all signed from her and Wesley but I don't know if he was involved.'

'Weapons?' Giles asked.

'Berets' she replied. 'In black with that little crossed scythe design that Buffy likes on them as a badge, there's your name written inside and she got all the hat sizes right.'

'Very military I'm sure.'

'If you wear them at the right angle they look pretty cool' Dawn told him. 'And if you care to note there's a glass of Sherry waiting for you on the reception desk' she told him.

'Very thoughtful Dawn but if the service had gone on much longer I would have needed a Scotch' he told her quietly.

'Not your Cup of Tea?' Dawn asked with a giggle.

'Hardly' Giles told her picking up the glass of Sherry.

Dawn broke away and dashed over to Buffy who had entered the Lobby carrying a box wrapped in a bow. 'Where's Spike?' she asked.

'Right here' Spike responded walking down the stairs. 'Someone said you wanted to see me' he said to Buffy. 'If it's about going to that bloody Christmas dinner I am not going to sit there and watch you eat.'

Buffy looked at him. 'Would you just come here' she told him.

Spike finished climbing down the stairs and ambled over. 'You've been more and more morose recently so we thought we should cheer you up' Buffy told him. 'So we got you a present' she told him holding up the box.

'I've been bleeding morose because I can't do things like open sodding boxes' Spike retorted. 'Or eat, or drink, or get drunk or have any fun at all… except for winding up Angel which is the only thing that gets me through the day.'

'That's okay I'll open it for you' Buffy said and holding the box with one hand she pulled the ribbon apart and then opened the box.

A flash of intensely bright light filled the Lobby causing everyone to blink.

'Think it worked?' Dawn asked moving in.

'Only one way to be sure' Buffy replied as Dawn raised her arm and held it aloft over Spike, there was something in her hand.

'What the hell is going on?' Spike wanted to know.

'Mistletoe' Dawn explained, 'and the present was from Willow really' she told him.

Buffy moved forward and kissed Spike gently on the lips. 'For saving the world, sorry it's a few month late' she told him.

'Angel says there's blood in the Fridge, Scotch in the Cupboard and because of the season he won't knock you on your ass until after New Year' Dawn told Spike brightly.

The now once again corporeal vampire just stood there speechless.

'Merry Christmas Spike' Buffy said to him fondly.

**THE END**

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_The story continues in **Compelled to Play with Destiny**. If you have enjoyed the Compelled Series so far a few seconds of your time to write a review and say so would be much appreciated :-)_

_For any that may be interested the Compelled Series can also be found (in slightly revised form) on the Twisting the Hellmouth site (link on my profile)_

_Thanks to all my readers_

_Jon_


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